The Forgotten Skeleton
by Nukem999
Summary: Lina is framed for murder by a stranger from her past, one she believed was dead. This being carries a dark secret from Lina's past. He's come for revenge against Lina but for what, and why?
1. Awakenings

The Forgotten Skeleton

(Chapter 1: Awakenings)

"Bread, bread, come get your fresh hot bread" a man screams as he wavers his best baked goods into the air. The beautiful cloudless sky and shimmering sun mirrors down on this simple town, children run and laugh through out the streets. Women and men trade jewels, diamonds, rubies, and other treasures while marketers distribute their foods, vegetables, and other tasty treats. Such is life in the simple but busy, busy city of Van Halgralah.

A young teenager runs with a massive cart hauled behind his shoulders, a purple dragon sitting comfortably aboard the boy's stack of fruits and vegetables. The dragon chirped, "I know, I know I'm late, I'm getting the supplies there as fast as I can" the boy said. Suddenly a shadowy figure with long hair, a cape, and a black headband around the being's hair appeared. The boy screamed and immediately turned his cart to the side to dodge.

CRASH! The massive cart slammed into the unfortunate stranger, fruits and chunks of wood flew all around the street. Wincing eyes of the young boy dare not look at the fatality he had endured, immediately he spoke "By the holy gods I'm so, so, sorry, I'm sorry I'm sorry I" but the boy stopped. Young green eyes widened to see a sight much more disturbing then a dead body, the stranger was completely and totally undamaged by the cart's slam.

No loss limbs, no splatters of blood, no broken bones, not even a splinter in the being's face, just the stranger standing there. "Hey you……are, are you all right? I mean……how did you do that?" the boy said in stammering shock. The dark stranger merely lifted a metallic claw like gloved hand. The glove was purple, metallic, and had talon like claw digit tips, a powerful blue energy ball formed in the hand. The boy's voice quickly screamed out.

KABOOM! A cataclysmic explosion instantly vaporized the boy and the dragon, oceans of fire and burning debris rain about the town. Women scream as they quickly rush to their homes, panic now fills the frightened streets of Van Halgralah. The being simply laughed and raised the other clawed glove, both palms charged up magical orbs of electrical energy. The balls were launched and immediately engulfed more things into nothingness.

No matter where the people ran or who tried to stop the stranger, the dark magic attacks were literally reducing the great city into melting rubble. Eyes widen as massive laser blasts slice apart the town's church, crumbling white stone and a mangled golden bell collapsed and crushed several people. Strange mystical words were uttered from the stranger's lips; a spell was cast as the gloves spread out. Massive quake like blasts shredded the streets.

"Feral Flames STRIKE" the voice yelled. Explosive balls of fire and flying lava burst open from the ground below, setting fire to people, animals, plants, buildings, anything that dare cross this dark wizard's awesome power. Powerful screams roared from the being as the arms were raised, hair was floating, and a powerful final magic attack was being enchanted by the stranger. Brave soldiers charged the stranger with spears lunging forward.

"NOW YOU DIE" the men yelled, the wizard screamed out 2 particular words before unleashing a devastating blast upon the city. The sky lit up with blazing fire, Van Halgralah was completely vaporized by the atomic bomb like blast of the incredible magical destructive energy. Thousands of lives were completely incinerated by this awesome and evil demonic force. The only survivor of the fallen city was the stranger who had destroyed it.

The being smiled, long locks of hair flowing in the wind as the stranger left. But not before leaving a message. Magical beams burned a name in the burning wood of a fallen family home, a name singed into the wood like a calling card. The name was meant to let all know who destroyed Van Halgralah; to let everyone became aware of the danger that is among them. The name read in burnt black letters, the same name uttered by the stranger.

Lina Inverse……

* * *

"Lina Inverse" Zelgatis said as he finally tore the red headed beauty from her mouth full of dangling pork meat and wine. "Tell me again why were bothering with these petty gangs? It's embarrassing to use our powers on such weaklings" Zelgatis said. With much dismay, the stone faced sorcerer was regretting following Lina, Gourry and Amelia on this tedious quest for food, money, and more food. French fried bandits lay across the ground.

Lina giggled "Oh Zel don't be such a sour uh whatever you are, we get all the food we can eat just for blowing up a few bad guys. No big deal". Gourry scarfed down gallons after gallon of wine, beef, and other foods that dribbled down his chin as he gulped them down rapidly. Zelgatis leaned against a tree and looked at the "fearsome" bandit gang once known as "The Phantom Claws". The blonde haired Gourry smiled "This sure is good".

After packing up some spare snacks into their bags, the traveling gang of wizards and warriors went off in search in more food and fun. "I'm so proud of you Lina, trouncing the world free of malicious villains and naughty thieves is a wonderful thing to be proud of" Amelia said. Lina sweat dropped and simply shrugged "Yeah whatever, long as I get good food and good publicity, it works out". Gourry groaned "Lina Inverse, modesty zero".

The red haired sorceress turned and clicked her black boots in front of Gourry, "And just what's that supposed to mean?" Lina said, pointing at him. Lina Inverse crossed her arms as she awaited Gourry's response. "Your really strong and all but it's just……well you see uh" Gourry stuttered. Both Zelgatis and Amelia backed away as they knew where this was going. "Spit it out Gourry" Lina growled, the young girl's knuckles clicked angrily.

"Your short breasts are more famous then your skills, ha, ha, funny isn't it?" Gourry said. BAM! A colossal fist left a throbbing bruise on Gourry's puffy mouth and black eye, Lina growled "That is SO NOT TRUE". Determined to prove Gourry wrong, Lina stormed her way deeper into the woods in search of someone. Pink colored eyes lit up as Lina spotted a traveler. The man blinked as Lina approached him, the man smiled and replied "Hello".

Lina smiled "Hey I was just wondering if you'd answer something for me, it's kind of silly but what have you heard about the legendary super beautiful, powerful, goddess known as Lina Inverse?". A low groan escaped Zelgatis "Goddess? Yeah maybe the goddess of bitchiness OW". Lina angrily stomped her black boot onto Zelgatis foot, awaiting the man's answer. The man scratched his light brown hair before snapping his fingers.

"Oh yeah I remember her, she's that short chick with the baby sized boobs" the man said. Veins sprouted on Lina's fiery red haired head as she growled a furious snarl, "EXPLOSION ARRAY" Lina screamed out. Massive blasts of magical fire engulfed and ignited over the poor traveler. Gourry, Zelgatis, and Amelia watched sweating furiously as Lina stormed past the fried traveler. "Say ONE word Gourry and your next" Lina hissed coldly to him.

The group continued in silence until eventually making it to the next town, the peaceful and serene Ballsworth City. "MMmmm this is delicious, 6 more dragon wings please" Lina shouted, Gourry also added "And extra sauce for these lobster claws". With usual disgust and distaste Zelgatis and Amelia watched Gourry and Lina chow down at least a year's worth of food. Lina smiled wiping her mouth clean of her desserts, "AH fantastic I'm stuffed".

"Yeah, MM me too, lucky thing those bandits had enough stolen goods to pay for our dinner" Gourry said. Gulping swallows drink down the last of the wine Zelgatis was enjoying. "So Lina what exciting perilous adventure are we going on next?" Amelia cheerfully asked. The young sorceress removed a brown map from her belt; then folded it across the table. This map would lead them to the diamond clock tower of Dahara Palace.

Lina pointed at the clock tower on the map and grinned, "That's what were going for, the treasures of the diamond clock tower. Legend has it, the King who built Dahara palace hundreds of years ago stashed a nation's worth of gold, diamonds, and treasures inside the diamond encrusted clock tower. But because of its diamond shell and intense protection by the guards, no one has ever discovered if it's true or simply a myth. Should be a blast huh guys?".

Gourry nodded "Sounds great, when can we head out?", Amelia and Lina hummed as the girls eyes ran closely over the map. "This says it'll take us 4 days to get there, but we can take a short cut through Van Halgralah" Amelia said. The gang nodded and quickly left their dinner table to head up to their hotel rooms, "Good we can stop there and get some supplies" Zelgatis added. Lina yawned and said goodnight to all before heading to her bed.

Meanwhile as they slept, in the burning city of Dahara Palace……

KABOOM! Stores and shops suddenly exploded as fire balls literally burst out from within their contents. People scream before being utterly vaporized by the awesome force of the flames. The lone dark stranger walked ever so casually down the burning homes of the once beautiful city of gold and silver. The fowl smell of melting gold filled the air. Purple claw like hands raise forward, super powerful green energy beams fired from both palms.

Massive golden pillars exploded chunks of gold rain down upon the singing city. Death and destruction following the stranger's steps no matter where the being went. "Thunder Slash" the sorcerer bellowed into the dark smoke filled sky, lighting bolts suddenly struck buildings and people alike. Dahara Palace guards roared as the armored soldiers charged against the stranger. The being's red eyes glowed bright blue as an energy aura circled the men.

"ARGH" the head guard began to collapse and started to grab his throat, crunching bone sounds could be heard snapping inside the man's throat. All of the royal guards were now being psychically strangled by some sort of dark magic. The stranger walked past them and raised piercing eyes into the sky, watching the sea of flames reflect off the diamond clock tower. The being chuckled to himself "You always did like sparkly things didn't you?".

The red eyes suddenly gushed 2 enormous river sized eye beams, the super powered laser blasts sliced through the clock tower's diamond shell easily. Broken metal and ruptured steel crunch under pressuring weight of the tower. The stranger couldn't help but laugh, laugh a dark sinister laugh as the diamond clock tower collapsed to the ground and destroyed itself. Dust clouds of crunched diamonds danced among the grinning smile of the being.

Just like Van Halgralah, another beautiful city had been completely destroyed by this monstrosity of flesh and magic. A shivering old man watched in horror as the clock tower dissolved in the burning flames. The evil sorcerer flared angry eyes towards the old man, his face turned pale white as he pleaded mercy. "Please, don't kill me, you've already destroyed our clock tower and our families, PLEASE I beg you don't" the man begged.

"SHUT YOUR TRAP" the stranger yelled, the man immediately went silent. Purple claw gloved fingers wrap around the man's throat and jerked him off his booted feet, the man was shaking like a kitten. The sorcerer hissed "I'm not going to bother killing a miserable insect like you old man, so don't wet your pants over this. I'm sparing you pathetic life in return for a little favor". The man nodded quickly "Yes, whatever it is you want, I'll do it, yes, yes".

The being grinned "Good, now here's the message. I want you to spread the word, tell every soul that comes within eye contact what I have done here. Tell them I've destroyed Dahara Palace, and that I've done the same to Van Halgralah and Dagwood City. And when they ask who's responsible, when they ask what heartless monster mercilessly slaughtered so many lives, you show them THIS name". The being tore off the old man's shirt with a slash.

Biting back his lip, the old man winced as he tried not to scream out in agonizing pain. The sorcerer was carving the name in blood with his claws on the old man's chest; he dropped the old man and then disappeared into the darkness. The old man's aged green eyes widening with tears and terror beating inside his ancient heart. His home, his family, everything he loved was now gone. The man looked to his chest, and learned who was to blame.

TheOld Man moaned "Lina Inverse".

* * *

To be continued…… 


	2. The Messenger

The Messenger

Shivering footsteps clicked along a dusty road, winding deeply into the blackest and darkest bowls of the forest's darkness. The old man muttered the 2 words that repetitively flashed across his mind, again and again. "Lina Inverse" he uttered with little life behind his trembling tone. The stinging venom of parasitic insects struck the man's face, the man's flesh trembled but still he did not react. The horrors burnt into his eyes burned on forever.

No force, no danger, nothing could remove those horrible burning buildings, and those agonizing screams of pain. It was as if the devil himself had cursed his home town with his desolate presence. The mission, the message singed into the soul of this weary old man was all he had left to give now. Little did he know how close he was to his quest's end, as he passed a wooden sign that read "Welcome to Ballsworth". Lina Inverse, she's here.

The cracking golden rays of the sun broke freely over the sky, Lina yawned as she stretched her white bed covers off her yellow pajamas. "Awe now that did the trick, MM I feel fantastic, totally prepared to get the tri-diamond crown of Dahara Palace" Lina said. Her bedroom door was suddenly opened, Gourry smiled a cheerful "HEY Good morning Lina, how's?". WHAM! Lina angrily smashed her pillows and bags against Gourry's face.

"IDIOT GET OUT, wait till I'm dressed first you blockhead" Lina shouted, Gourry groaned and rubbed his throbbing red face. About 7 minutes later Gourry tried it again, "Uh morning? Lina? Sorry about before, I didn't know" the young knight said. Lina rolled her red eyes "You didn't think, that's your problem and it's not a new problem either". The blonde hero shrugged and sat down by Lina's dresser, "Anyway what's up Gourry?" Lina asked him.

Gourry replied "Well it's about this diamond thing, this tri-force crown you're looking for. Dahara Palace sounds like a pretty hard town to crack open, with all the guards protecting it inside the clock tower. What makes you think we'll be able to get it so easily?". Sweetly Lina smiled and chuckled "Don't you worry, Dahara is famous for their treasures which makes their security systems tough, when also makes them a bit arrogant.

They wouldn't suspect a harmless group of sight seers now would they? (Giggle) I can't wait to see the looks on their faces when I sparkle in those diamonds. Hey I just remembered, where's Amelia and Zelgatis?", the man's fingers pointed behind him "Amelia's getting supplies in town. Zelgatis headed down the path to Dagwood City, he said he wanted to make sure it was clear of any bandits or thieves before we reached Dahara Palace".

The young sorceress laughed at that "That sneaky Zel, I knew that'd jerk head off and steal all the bandit bashing for himself". The door suddenly was pounded upon by rapidly hammering fists, Amelia screamed "Miss Lina, Gourry, LET ME IN". Gourry went to the door and opened it for Amelia, she entered panting and wheezing with exhaustion and fear. The young girl was covered head to toe with rotten fruit splashes, liquor stains, and a few cuts.

"Holy cow Amelia, what happened to you?" Gourry asked, the young girl continued to pant and wheeze "We got to get out of here, NOW". Amelia frantically rushed Lina and Gourry around the room, stuffing their bags full of their clothes and supplies. The young usually perky Amelia had now become a frantic mess of fear, panic, and terror. In seconds the gang was heading out the door, Lina struggled "Hey what's the big idea Amelia?

I paid for breakfast dammit and I'd like to have some. OW, stop shoving, what's gotten into you all of the sudden?". Lina's face suddenly bumped into another man's chest, a man holding a flaming torch and a large hammer. Behind that man was a second with similar weaponry, and behind him another, and another, and another. The whole town was packed with enraged, armed villagers. Gourry and Lina sweat dropped "Oh, we see now".

The whole town grew angry with violent screams, people shouting "GET OUT" over and over. Amelia silently squeaked "I tried to tell you guys, the whole town wants us out. When I was in the market they attacked me and mentioned your name Ms. Inverse. They said I was just as evil for hanging out with a monster like you, I tried to get you guys out before they could find our room but (gulp)". Gourry slowly reached toward his light sword.

Lina raised a white glove and shook her red head, "Relax, no sense in getting our asses burnt if we can put out the fire now". An angry bearded man screamed "Get out of our town", "Be gone you heartless monsters" a woman shouted next. "Hold it right there lady, I may be no angel cake but I'm certainly not devil food" Lina said. The man snorted "Hog swallow, you expect us to believe that after you slaughtered all those people like cattle?".

Gourry blinked "Gee Lina I thought you said you stopped killing bandits from now on". The powerful sorceress simply growled and smashed Gourry across the face, Lina was far too mad to bother dealing with him now. Lina frowned "Cut the crap Gourry, it's clear that GRANDPA needs to get his hearing checked. For your information buster I haven't killed anyone in a VERY, very long while, let alone gone off on any murderous rampages".

The bearded leader of the crowd turned to the mad mob and called for the old man, a few moments later the crowd split open a path for the old man. Lina, Gourry, and Amelia gasped as the ghastly image of the man made messenger wearily arriving before the terrified townsfolk. It was the same elderly man whose chest was bearing the name of Lina Inverse in blood. "There's your proof witch" the man snarled, the crowd became restless.

The sad sight of the dying old man brought tears to Amelia's eyes, "Oh my just look at him (sniffle) Ms. Inverse how could you do such a thing?". Another angry bonk on the head from Lina silenced Amelia, "PIPE DOWN I've never even seen this guy before in my life". The man's weary eyes suddenly widened at the sound of a most familiar name. "Inverse? L-L-L-L-Lina Inverse?" the old man asked, his voice trembling with deathly shivers.

The young woman stared at the old man, regretfully unable to look away from his sad image. Lina indeed felt truly sorry this man had experienced such physical horrors, but she knew she had no memory of meeting this man. "Yes, yes that's me" Lina said with a bit of caution in her voice. The sight of her name written in blood, sent sinful chills down Lina's spine. The old man raised his bony hand and extended a finger, pointing right at Lina.

"You, you are the one who has done this, yes……(cough, sputter) YOU are the monster responsible for the death of my family" the old man said. Painful vice grips of death tightly clutched the man's failing heart. The man continued "I delivered your message oh wicked temptress, I told these people of the massacres you committed in those other towns. Van Hangralah, Dagwood, Dahara Palace, all gone, destroyed thanks to you".

Horse hooves clomped loudly as a stranger on a white horse was approaching. Lina frowned "Recount your marbles grandpa, because you got the wrong sorceress. I admit I haven't always been perfect but I am by no means a mass murderer. Besides I haven't even been to Dahara Palace or Van Hangralah before". Gourry nodded "That's right, she was going there to steal treasures from them, so why would she want to just blow them up?".

Angrily both Lina and Amelia shut Gourry's mouth up before he got them in any more trouble. But the crowd was already fuming with rage, the news of death and destruction so near to their homes had gotten them quite roused. Hateful eyes glared upon the little trio. Lina, Amelia, and Gourry gulped as they could tell their welcome had clearly been worn out. "Ugh" the old man collapsed to the ground, everyone gasped in horror. He was motionless.

The old man was revealed to be dead, his heart had just given out to the severity of his wounds. Lina gulped "This is weird, that guy was in horrible shape, completely trashed. Yet he strangely had enough energy to come all this way and deliver his message to me. I think we should go now". The crowd circled Lina was once, enraged townsfolk aimed pitchforks, swords, and torches at the trapped trio. "Your not going anywhere witch" a man said.

"GOD how many times do I have to tell you people? I did NOT destroy those towns. You can go see for yourselves, there perfectly all right and so are the people in it" Lina said. "I'm afraid there right Lina" a voice said from behind. The crowd turned to see a familiar rocky blue face, "Mr. Zelgatis" Amelia proclaimed. The stone faced wizard was indeed troubled, his face filled with sweat, worry, and fear. "What is it Zel?" Lina asked.

Zelgatis sighed "I'm afraid it's just as they say, I just got back from both Dagwood and Dahara Palace. There both completely destroyed. There's nothing but fire, and dead bodies everywhere. I hear Van Hangralah is in the same condition as well". The gang bit their lips with fear and concern, this indeed spelled greater trouble for them. Lina knows in her heart she did not commit those crimes, but then that means that someone ELSE has done this.

But the look of doubt on Zel's face showed there was still more bad news to come. "Zelgatis, is there something else you're not telling us?" Gourry asked. Lina's green eyes flashed to Zelgatis eyes, he slowly replied "Lina's name was found at each of the cities. It was carved in actual human blood". The crowd suddenly became vicious, rocks and beer bottles were hurled at Lina's head. "OW hey what the hell do you think your doing?" Lina shouted out.

"SHE'S A MONSTER" "All those people are DEAD because of you" "Skin her alive", "Grab them, KILL THEM ALL" the voices shouted. Lina, Gourry, Amelia, and even Zelgatis on his horse were swarmed over by the infuriated crowd. The clawing hands of the villagers were desperate to draw blood. Lina's blood, the blood of a monstrous murderer. It seemed that Lina and her friends were about to pay for crimes they did not even commit.

"We got to get out of here and fast" Zelgatis shouted muffled, "No shit" Lina mumbled in return. Amongst the crowd Lina's bare arm emerged, her fingers snapping as she shouted as best she could "Gray Wings". Hurricane gusts of wind blast off the mob scene with a powerful magic wind spell. The red headed sorceress took to the skies, dragging her friends into the air as well. A few moments pass and Lina finds a forest clearing to safely land in.

Amelia panted "Whew, now that was a real close call". Gourry groaned from the rough landing "Ugh I'll say, those people really went overboard on us. If we had stayed there any longer they'd have ripped us into a million pieces". "Luckily we lost them, were safe for now" Zelgatis said. A black boot stomped the ground in a furious pout, Lina was angrily shaking her head. "No way, nah ah, were not safe, not in the least bit" Lina stated quite firmly.

The blonde swordsman scratched his hair, Gourry was quite confused. "But were miles away from those crazy townsfolk, I doubt there gonna follow us all the way out here in the middle of no where" Gourry said. An annoyed sigh escaped Lina "Forget the townsfolk you meat head, I'm talking about this imposter problem". Curiously Amelia raised her hand, " But Ms. Inverse, if your innocent of those crimes then why bother worrying about him at all?".

Lina shook her head "As usual you're missing the point Amelia, don't you see? Someone or something out there is destroying towns and killing people with powerful magic spells. And whoever this sorcerer or sorceress is, there using my name to make it sound like I'm the one responsible for it. I'm being framed and I say it's time I found out why, and stop whoever is behind all of this. Come on guys, its high time we start putting this puzzle together".

* * *

To be continued…… 


	3. Breadcrumbs

Breadcrumbs

The silent gang draped themselves in the darkest of rags, shadowy garments tightly bound around Lina, Amelia, Gourry, and Zelgatis. Ever since the incident in Ballsworth, secrecy has been the only safe method to travel in. Already there were hundreds of wanted posters slapped on every town's location. Pictures of Lina's face marked with a gigantic sized bounty for her head, dead. But Lina is sure she is being framed, and she intends to prove it.

The group halted at the mangled, charred remains of what was once Van Halgralah city. Now only broken buildings and burnt piles of wood remain. "Oh my" Amelia gulped nervously. Zelgatis sighed "This place looks like a nightmare", "What the hell do you think happened here?" Gourry asked. Lina frowned "That's exactly what were going to find out and what better place to find clues then at the scene of the crime". Slowly the gang entered the town.

Not a soul in sight, just vaporized chunks of melted stone, fractured wood, and hundreds of burnt garments of clothing. Lina's young green eyes vividly searched for a clue, a mark, a sign, something that would enlighten them as to who the real culprit is behind these unspeakable horrors. The young girl's mind raced with sickening mental images, images of death and fear. Bad as Lina liked to think she was, whoever did this was a thousand times worse.

Amelia nervously lifted up planks of wood, investigating under the destroyed remains of a bakery. Black boots kicked off chunks of metal and broken glass, Lina closely examined the town's local inn. "This is really weird, all I'm finding is people's clothes, but……without the bodies" Lina said. The blonde swordsman shrugged "Maybe he stripped them of their clothes before he killed them". Lina sighed shaking her head no to Gourry.

"No that doesn't make sense, the shape of the clothes indicate there was no struggle or force pulling at them. There would be tears on them if they were trying to be ripped off" Lina said. Zelgatis nodded "Lina's right, and notice the fact there's no bones, no charred ashes, not even a single piece of hair". Curiously Gourry asked "So what does that mean?", Lina gulped "Somehow he vaporized these people completely, like they were never here at all.

To wield power capable of literally annihilating the people without even touching them, I mean that's……that's not possible. Even the most powerful magic attack isn't strong enough to wipe out every inch of the person's body. Not without leaving some parts, and there's not even a severed limb. No one's that powerful……no one". Grim silence set on the heroes as they continued to search the ghost town, feeling worse by every inch they search.

Suddenly the young Amelia spotted something amazing, she yelled to her friends as they quickly surrounded her. "Guys, guys, look what I found here, over by the town entrance sign" Amelia said. The gang's eyes locked onto the sign, frowning at the dreadful sight before them. It was "Lina Inverse" burnt into the wood of the sign, a calling card for the faceless wizard responsible for all of this. "No wonder they thought it was you" Gourry said.

Angrily Lina pouted "THAT JERK, I swear to god I am gonna kill this creep once I get my hands on him. How dare he blame me for all of this, what nerve, what the hell did I do to deserve this?". Slowly gracing his tone blue fingers over the sign, Zelgatis hummed to himself as he felt the burnt letters. "Something's amiss here" the cursed warrior said. Lina blinked "What's that?", Zelgatis responded "Take a look at these letters Lina, look real hard".

The sorceress bent down and closely examined the black burnt letters, looking deeper but seeing ultimately the same thing. "What is it I'm supposed to be seeing?" she asked, "These letters have been burnt into the sign by an outside force, not part of the design originally intended" Zelgatis said. "Yeah so?" Lina groaned. Zelgatis frowned "Then why aren't there any burn marks? Fried splinters? Why aren't there any singes on the wood?

If someone blasted the sign with a fire spell to burn the message into it, there would have been traces of it. But look, there's nothing, no indications this was done from a crafter's point of view. The fire burned so deeply into it, it's almost as if it was made to be apart of the sign's design. In all my years of studying magic, I have NEVER seen incredible skill used in one simple fire spell". Sweat drops drip from Lina's face as she replied "Me either".

Finally Lina and her friends decide they were finished, and decided to move onto the next town for more clues. The ruins of Dagwood City were next. Gourry and Amelia searched through the leveled buildings, while Lina and Zelgatis checked for any traces of magic or smaller clues. Soon 20 minutes of searching seemed hopeless, no new information could be found or discovered. But suddenly, something strange peeked Gourry's blue eyes.

"Whoa, talk about sharp fingernails, this guy must have a killer hand shake with claws like these" Gourry said. Zelgatis examined what the swordsman had found; it was a piece of wood lined with some sort of claw marks. Carefully squinting his eyes, Zelgatis investigated "Good work Gourry this should prove most useful". Amelia suddenly called out to the others, "Hey guys when you're done with that, I've uncovered the vandal's footprints".

Lina walked towards Amelia and examined the foot steps, also having claw like imprints within them. "Hmmm these claws were certainly not made of flesh and blood, I'd say there some type of metal glove" Zelgatis said. The footprints were lined with razor claw like points on the sides of the foot. The shape and deepness of the imprint showed the person was also quite heavy, or wearing something heavy. "They look like dragon's teeth" Amelia said.

The fiery red haired sorceress pondered results from both discoveries, Lina paced back and forth with her tapping black boots. The pieces of this puzzle were coming along too slowly, too little information has been gathered and too much time has been wasted. "This isn't enough, were not getting anywhere by tracing these half assed leads. We need something solid" Lina said. The gang packed up and headed off to their last destination, Dahara.

The fabled city of gold and diamonds, a prosperous town made famous by its jewel constructed clock tower. A sad sigh escaped Lina as she reached Dahara Palace, disappointed by the condition of the once treasure richened town. "Dammit, the least he could have done is left a few diamonds behind for" Lina said, stopping halfway due to the angry glares from her friends. "Uh……just kidding" Lina said as she ventured off to find any final clues.

"WOW, Mr. Zelgatis look at that" Amelia said gasping, discovering the sight of the fallen golden diamond tower of Dahara. The massive living work of art lay in melted ruins in the ashes of its once proud home. Hundreds of diamonds and fractured blocks of gold lay scattered on the streets. Amelia smirked "How foolish of our elusive evil doer, leaving behind the loot so carelessly, what kind of crook leaves behind the gold?".

Zelgatis groaned "Someone who's NOT looking for gold", Amelia sweat dropped and giggled "Oh yeah……sorry". Little else could be found other then broken wood, and dimly lit diamonds. Dark blue boots suddenly crunch upon something very different. The orbs of Gourry's wondering eyes locate a small tuft of green hair; Gourry slowly picked the hairs up and examined them. "This sure is strange…….hmmm I wonder" Gourry said to himself.

Amelia and Zelgatis attention turned towards Gourry's strange discovery, watching him slowly approach Lina from behind. "If we run a casting spell over this we can OW" Lina screamed, feeling her red hair being yanked off her head. Gourry held up Lina's red hairs and the green hairs he found up together. The young knight nodded "I was right, these are definitely not Lina's hairs UGH" Gourry groaned. Lina angrily bashed her fist into his face.

"JERK, that hurt like hell Gourry" Lina said, Gourry moaned "Sorry Lina, just trying to see if these were grey hairs or not". Redness spread over the sorceress's head like sickness, veins sprouted all over her boiling forehead. "Grey hairs? I'm still YOUNG YOU IDIOT" Lina shouted. Zelgatis coughed "Late 20's isn't that young", Lina glared at that remark with another hateful scorn. The red headed girl quickly took the hair samples.

Lina's vivid green eyes carefully examined the hairs, she smirked "I knew these weren't my grey hairs, there not even grey, in fact there……AH". The hair samples suddenly dropped from Lina's trembling black gloved fingers. The girl's eyes froze in place; cold fear crept up from the very deepest, darkest areas of her mind. "No……it can't be him" Lina whispered. A dark memory that had haunted Lina's nightmares for many years had returned.

* * *

Flash Back

" _We did it, I can't believe we finally did it Lina"_

"_I hear someone coming"_

"_I'm going to be the greatest sorcerer alive"_

"_I don't trust her"_

"_Thank you my friend"_

"_You'll always be second best"_

"_You've betrayed me"_

"_Sayonara loser"_

* * *

"AAAAAARGH" Lina screamed into the heavens, her limbs shaking vigorously from the overwhelming fear suddenly controlling her body. Beads of sweat mix with Lina's shaking lips as she stands there nervously. Zelgatis, Amelia, and Gourry stare wide eyed in shock at their friend, completely confused at what just happened. "Uh Lina are you all right?" "Yes Miss Lina are you feeling well?" Gourry and Amelia nervously asked.

The red headed sorceress slowly looked at everyone and everything around her; Lina gulped down her fear and replied softly "Yeah I'm okay. Just got a bad headache……that's all" the young Inverse said. A worried Gourry slowly approached Lina "Are you sure? Look maybe you should lie down for a minute". Gourry's and was viciously slapped off by Lina, "I SAID I'M FINE" Lina scowled. The gang slowly spread themselves far from Lina.

Though she claimed she was all right, something deep and dark was seriously troubling the red headed sorceress. The shocked look on her friend's faces was proof enough. Meanwhile as the group ventured on after their leader, something strange was currently happening in a town tavern. A wooden tavern currently packed with weary traveling customers. The entrance sign's rusty red letters stated boldly and clearly "The Red Hollow".

* * *

Fallon chuckled "Now ain't that the truth". The light yellow haired man chuckled, gulping down his mug of wine. "So tell me, what was your name again?".

"I didn't give one" The man replied.

Fallon nodded "Man of mystery eh? If that's the way you want it then, although I should be doing the same. Don't want anyone knowing where I am these days".

The stranger asked "And why is that?".

"You mean you haven't heard?" Fallon gasped.

The man scowled "Heard what? What are you babbling about?".

Fallon whispered "Lina Inverse, who else? That wretched woman's been turning the whole world upside down; she leaves a path of destruction wherever she goes".

"Is that so?" the stranger said, smiling.

"No heart's blacker then hers they say. She's killed women, children, animals, hell she's killed everything that's killable" Fallon added.

The man grinned "Sounds like a real monster".

Fallon nodded "Ain't that the truth. They put up wanted posters for her capture; the biggest bounty ever conceived is now on her head. But of course no fool's been dumb enough to risk his life to go after her".

"If this keeps up, she won't be able to go near a civilized town for over a hundred miles" the man said, proudly.

Fallon replied "That's why I'm heading out of here, first thing tomorrow morning on the local ferry. Stick around here any longer and I'll wind up in a coffin".

The man scratched his chin "You don't say?".

The blonde man leaned in closer "That's not all that's being said. There saying that people have seen some dangerous magic around these parts, I think Lina Inverse might be coming here".

The man shook his head "Oh no, no she won't, least not yet anyway".

Fallon blinked curiously "uh why not?".

The grinning stranger raised his steel claw gloves, sparkling with magical energy, "Because I haven't left her my calling card……yet".

KABOOM!

* * *

To be continued…… 


	4. Guess Who

Guess Who

The smoking ruins of shattered wood lay scattered about the location of where a tavern once stood. Black boots crunch their heels into the charred splintered debris, Lina sighed "Looks like we found our next clue". Lina and her friends Amelia, Zelgatis, and Gourry quickly searched the remains of the torched tavern. Nothing but charred skeletons, vaporized chairs, and the smell of death remain. "This is getting really weird guys" Zelgatis stated.

Gourry blinked "I'll say, first this guy levels 3 big name cities and then destroys some dinky little tavern. Just thinking about this hurts my head", the red headed sorceress groaned "Why does that not surprise me?". As Lina and her friends search among the tavern's ruins, they searched for any connection to the previous cities destroyed. Gourry was right; this didn't match any of the clues from before. Lina had to be sure it was the same guy.

"Ms. Inverse I don't see your name written on any of these boards, maybe this isn't the same person" Amelia questioned. But Lina shook her head in response to that, the woman pondered "No it's the same creep, I can feel it. I know this doesn't fit the same description with those other towns, but somehow I just KNOW that this is connected". Zelgatis ran his stony blue orbs across the planks of fried wood, searching for any form of writing.

The cursed soldier suddenly gasped, as he did find something written into the wood. The message was designed with the same magic used before. "Lina's right they are connected, but I think it'd be wise if we approached this imposter with caution" Zelgatis said. Lina blinked "What? Why? What did you find Zel?". The gang ran to the message Zelgatis had found, the message inscribed in the wood was clear and direct. It was an arrow.

"Uh so what exactly does this mean?" Gourry asked curiously, Lina frowned "He's leading us right to him……he wants to be found". The enraged sorceress crunched the arrow board under her heel and stormed off. Zelgatis quickly moved after her, he was noticing she seemed to be trying to ditch the group. Zelgatis frowned "Lina what do you think your doing? You've got to stop this". But Lina shook her head "Oh I'll stop this all right, oh yes I will".

* * *

Zelgatis shouted "LINA STOP".

The sorceress annoyingly jammed her boots into the ground and stopped. Turning her face to Zelgatis, Lina glared at him as she crossed her arms.

An angry Lina replied "Make it snappy Zel; I've got a copy cat to deal with".

"Don't be an idiot, rushing into this head on will only get you killed" Zelgatis said.

Lina smirked "The only one that's going to die is this rank amateur who thinks he can mimic me and get away with it".

Zelgatis growled "EXACTLY, that's what I mean. This is no rank amateur and this is certainly no ordinary copy cat".

Lina blinked "How can you tell?".

"If this guy is so obsessed with you then he obviously knows all about you, your powers, your spells, everything. He wouldn't be stupid enough to leave a trail for you to find unless he wanted you to find him" Zelgatis explained.

The young woman shook her head "You're not making one bit of sense".

The stone man groaned "Ugh don't you see? He wouldn't draw you to him unless he knew he could defeat you, either he's got a trap ready and waiting for you, or he's a lot more powerful then we think. Don't underestimate this guy Lina".

Lina frowned "You give him way to much credit Zel, I'm a big girl I can take care of myself. If he's that desperate to find me then why keep me waiting any longer? Besides, once I do find him he'll get a taste of what REAL power is. Then I'll clear my name and end this stupid little game once and for all".

Zelgatis sighed "Then at least let us help you, fighting him alone would be a foolish mistake".

The sorceress laughed "HA, the only one making a mistake here is him. Now stop bothering me and let me take care of this or so help me……huh?".

The fiery sorceress slowly ended her statement as something strange caught her green eyes. A shadowy figure was seen lurking behind the trees, and he was looking right at Lina.

"What the?" Lina gasped.

A stranger whispered "Well hello……red".

Lina gasped "No……it can't be, not you. AHHH IT'S NOT YOU".

A powerful fire ball spell was blasted at the shadows, Zelgatis gasped and ducked out of the way. The shadow disappeared moments before the fire struck the trees and ignited them into flames.

"HEY, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Zelgatis exclaimed.

"Did you miss me?" the stranger whispered again.

Lina shrieked "YOURE' SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD!".

* * *

Lina continued to blast her fire spells around the woods like a maniac, shooting every shadow she could find. Gourry and Amelia tackled the young sorceress down and pinned her arms to the ground. "NO LET GO GRR he's after me, he's after me" Lina babbled. Zelgatis panted as he approached the struggling Lina, watching her so frightfully struggle with Gourry and Amelia. Gourry gasped "Lina cool it, no one's after you it's just us, your friends".

After a few moments of catching her breathe and adjusting her panicky eyes, Lina realized the shadow was gone. "Probably just imagined it, no way that could be who I thought it was" Lina thought to herself. Gourry and Amelia slowly released the struggling sorceress to her feet. Lina sighed "Sorry about that guys, guess I had a little freak out, but I'm fine now". The blonde haired Gourry smiled "Boy you sure gave us a scare Lina, we could barely hold you.

Not to mention I've never seen you act that scared so fast", Lina groaned and simply continued her walk once again. "Come on guys, that imposter is probably miles away, we've gotta move fast if we want to" Lina began. But as the girl turned around she realized Zelgatis hadn't moved an inch. The trio stared at him blankly as Lina asked why he was stalling. "Who was it Lina?" Zelgatis asked cryptically, "Who was what?" Lina replied baffled.

Zelgatis frowned and stared right at Lina "You screamed not him, you said it can't be him……who were you talking about?". Regret jolted Lina's memory back to that quote, she had indeed said that during her little panic attack. Sweat trickled off Lina's fiery red locks and cheeks. "It was no one, come on we have to get going or were going to lose him" Lina stated. But Zelgatis remained still as stone, not wiling to move a single inch closer.

The stone wizard shook his head "I don't think so, there's something your not telling us Lina, something you know about this so called imposter". Lina laughed "Oh come on Zel, be serious". Zelgatis growled "I AM SERIOUS, but your not, I know you're hiding something. You reacted very violently to the image of this person, and you nearly fried us all just to defend yourself from him. There's something you're not telling us Lina, I'm sure about it.

And I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't plan on moving a pinky until you tell us what the hell is going on Inverse". BOOM! A massive explosion suddenly erupted from behind Zelgatis, he had been blasted by a colossal magic attack. The stone sorcerer screamed as he landed right on top of Lina, Amelia, and Gourry. "UGH" they all groaned at the man's massive stone solid weight. Laughter suddenly echoed around the trees shadows.

The looming figure of darkness had appeared once again, the same Lina went ballistic over a few moments ago. "My, my, my, what a treat this is, I wasn't aware that red had reeled in a new group of suckers while I was away" the voice said. Gourry and Zelgatis quickly armed themselves in defense from this dark man. Amelia cradled Lina back onto her feet, "Ms. Inverse are you all right?" Amelia had asked her with concern in her voice.

But the fallen sorceress was seemingly unaware of Amelia's presence, or anyone else's for that matter. For right now, at this very moment, all Lina could hear was the rapid beating of her horrified heart. Green eyes bulged with widening pupils, stuttering a gasp sputtered from Lina's shaking lips. "That voice……it can't be you no……no way" Lina whispered. The shadow smiled "Awe red what's the matter, you look like you've seen a ghost?".

The dark man suddenly burst open with roaring laughter at that last remark, uttering a truly bizarre hyena/jackal like laugh. A laugh so chilling it had haunted Lina's dreams for many, many, years. "So tell me red how long has it been 4, 5, about 7 years now hasn't it? And after all those years you still remember me, I'm touched" the shadow chuckled. Gourry unsheathed his sword of light and growled, "Hold it right there, identify yourself" he said.

The shadowy man stepped into the dimming light of the golden sun, revealing his form to the group. The man was tall, hair was long, smooth, and had a dark jade green color to it. Eyes were a shimmering stone grey, tombstone grey one might say. But the most noticeable thing about this being was the truly twisted form of armor he was wearing. The armor was a mixture of black, dark purple, and a sickening dull shade of dark blood red.

Steel claw tipped gloves flexed talon like digits, the steel design of a spider rested upon the base of both gloves. The leg armor was long and jagged like, almost as if 2 spears had been melted and formed to fit over the man's legs. Boots had dragon like fangs carved into treads for the sides of the boots. A slim black body suit lay hidden under the massive heap of twisted metal. Two skulls lay on each side of the twin bulging red armor shoulder plating.

Below the man's seemingly eternally youthful, thin, bony like face was the design of a vampire bat. A massive metallic bat design grafted directly over the front chest plate. The silver collar around the neck of the man was shaped just like a snake. Topping the armor off was a long dark royal blue cape, floating from behind the awesome form of flesh and steel. The green haired man smirked a cold grin and chuckled "So red, did you miss me?".

Zelgatis stared blankly at this truly baffling, and perplexing figure. "Lina you know this……this person?" Zelgatis asked. The sorceress simply stared to the ground and sighed, tears slowly swelling up in her trembling eyes. "Come on red, tell them the truth, tell them who I am who I REALLY am" the man smirked. Gourry, Amelia, and Zelgatis turned to Lina with eyes of confusion, watching as Lina looked to them all with tears of icy sorrow.

Lina sighed "Yes I know him……he's my son".

* * *

To be continued…… 


	5. Reunion

Reunion

Aside from the bursting amount of maniacal laughter roaring from the green haired stranger, nothing but silence answered Lina's statement. Gourry, Zelgatis, and Amelia were completely stunned to discover this man was in fact her son. "Your son? You had a son all this time and you never thought to mention it to ME?" Gourry shouted. The man laughed "Thanks mommy dearest, it's nice to know after all these years I'm still in your prayers".

Lina frowned "Not my SON, son, I didn't give birth to him if that's what you mean, but I am the reason he was created". The man smirked and clanked his dragon claw boots towards the group. Upon the stranger's belt was a sword, embedded with a dark green emerald in the handle. "Isn't that right……Jacob Loomis?" Lina asked. Upon hearing those very words, the man Lina called Jacob fired two massive green magic beams from his eyes.

Gourry yanked Lina down as the beams instantly vaporized a tree behind them. The man screamed "DON'T YOU EVER CALL ME THAT AGAIN", Zelgatis and Amelia held their ears tightly against the man's horrible screams. "Jacob Loomis is DEAD, has been for 7 years now, but you should have already known that red, after all, YOU were the one that killed him" the man said. The gang gasped at Lina, who simply glared coldly at the man.

The stranger smirked "You will call me by my true name, the name that I was born to be called, the name all brave warriors fear to speak of, I am Kraxor the Destroyer". Zelgatis jaw dropped like a 50 ton boulder, "WHAT? Lina your friends with Kraxor the Destroyer?" Zelgatis shouted. Both Gourry and Amelia blinked blankly "Who's Kraxor the Destroyer?". A reluctant Zelgatis explained "Only one of THE most legendary and feared conquerors.

7 years ago, Kraxor began his reign of terror by wiping out an entire village in an instant. His black magic is unlike anything ever seen before. Not even Rezzo would dare mess with a wizard as powerful and destructive as Kraxor. This monster has made a name for himself by obliterating civilizations, cultures, clans, tribes; nothing was spared from this bastard's wrath. All who have been foolish enough to challenge him were completely annihilated.

Rumors speculate his magic armor is the source of his power, growing stronger each day by consuming the souls of his countless victims. Every novice and wizard in the world of magic knows and fears Kraxor". The dark wizard chuckled and bowed "You know my fame, I'm honored stone man". Lina shivered at sight of Kraxor, her legs hobbled vividly with terror. "No, There's no way, there's no way you could be Kraxor Jacob" Lina babbled.

"GRRR MY NAME IS KRAXOR" the destroyer hollered. A massive blast of sonic energy suddenly surrounded him and blasted off like a shock wave, Lina's friends were blasted away. The red sorceress looked around in fear, finding herself alone, helpless, and at the mercy of her former comrade. Kraxor grinned "Now it's just you and me red, just like old times eh? But I'm sure you're already aware of why I'm here, aren't you?". Lina nodded.

The dark wizard frowned "I'm here to settle our score Lina, to finish what you and you alone started 7 years ago". The red headed sorceress shook her head "This can't be, you can't be here, it's impossible it's UGH". Kraxor smashed his steel claw glove across Lina's face, she dropped to the ground in pain. "What can I say? Irony is a real bitch" Kraxor started as he raised his sword high into the air, "And so are you". Lina closed her eyes in terror.

"LINA" Gourry shouted as he rammed his shoulder into Kraxor, the swordsman tackled the wizard down to the ground. Amelia ran to Lina "Come on Ms. Inverse, we got to go now". While Lina was carried off by Amelia, Gourry and Zelgatis would distract Kraxor. The destroyer growled and blasted Gourry off with a magic blast from his clawed glove. "Light arrows FIRE" Zelgatis shouted as he blasted Kraxor with multiple arrows.

Golden energy arrows sliced into Kraxor's blood red body armor, sinking into his arms and chest. BZZT! The energy arrows suddenly dissipated without harming Kraxor at all, much to Zelgatis horror. "Back off stone man, this is not your fight, this is between me and the murderer" Kraxor snapped. Gourry growled "Your not going anywhere near Lina you creep". Kraxor frowned "So you wish to dance with the devil do you? So be it".

Blood colored energy charged the curved edges of Kraxor's blade, he removed his sword and raised it skyward. Gourry and Zelgatis remained on guard. If this destroyer was truly as dangerous as the legends say, then attacking him head on would be suicide. "Just wait Gallry, if we don't be careful this guy could kill us where we stand" Zelgatis said. Kraxor's sword brimmed with thundering red energy, it sparkled like lighting in the sky.

"Now fools, let's see how you like the taste of my REAPER STRIKE" Kraxor commanded. FASCHWOOM! The sword unleashed a devastating saber slash of fiery devil blood energy, the slash exploded right between Gourry and Zelgatis. Before either man knew it, they were flying into the air, screaming and flailing wildly. "Shurocko GAHA" Kraxor said. Massive jolts of electrical energy struck Zelgatis and Gourry from both of Kraxor's claws.

The thunder beams acted like magnetic beams for the two warriors, carrying them and moving them under Kraxor's control. The destroyer smirked "Catch you on the flip side boys". Kraxor blasted his magic into full force, Gourry and Zelgatis screamed as they were hurled across the sky. The warriors squirmed in the air helplessly as they crashed into a massive forest. "Now to finish what I came here to do" Kraxor said as he stared to the sky.

The dark man clenched his claws as he once again began charging up his incredible magical powers. Black energy charged over Kraxor's arms and chest, he growled a painful groan "DEVIL'S WINGS HA". Two massive bat wings burst from Kraxor's back, spreading their twisted limbs wide open. The bat wings flapped faster and faster, propelling Kraxor into the sky like a preying vulture. The dark sorcerer soared over the endless forest tree tops.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are" Kraxor hummed, constantly searching for his repulsive target, Lina Inverse. The mad man's dark grey eyes suddenly flashed at the sound of female voice. Kraxor laughed "FOUND YOU", the man soared his devil wings down to the trees. Chaos green eye beams sliced away the trees to clear a path directly to Lina. Kraxor grasped his sword tightly in his claws, and prepared to destroy Lina Inverse.

"LIGHT FLASH GO" Amelia shouted. Kraxor screamed as he jammed his claw gloves over his eyes, shielding his sizzling orbs over the blinding force of Amelia's light spell. Lina had set a trap, pure and simple. Amelia and Lina quickly made their get away while Kraxor was distracted, hopefully to buy some time. A few moments later, the spell died down and Kraxor's vision returned. The dark wizard screamed with inhuman fury "INVERSE".

* * *

Hours later after nothing but non stop walking, Lina and Amelia felt they had walked far enough. The girls quickly sat down to catch their breath. A few moments later the bushes behind them shook, Lina gasped in terror. But luckily it was just a bruised and banged up Zelgatis and Gourry. "Oh thank god, we thought you were that destroyer guy" Amelia said sighing with relief. Gourry groaned rubbing his shoulder, "Ugh, that'll leave a bruise.

I felt like I smashed into every tree branch in the entire forest" the blonde warrior continued to moan. Zelgatis nodded "I'll say, being made of stone doesn't make the pain any less more GR excruciating". Lina simply sat on a stone by the river in silence, her green eyes occasionally wandering around. For the longest time no one had said or moved at all during that moment. The gang just listened, and preyed, preying that Kraxor wouldn't find them.

"Well Uh……guess it's time to get moving, come on guys, chop, chop" Lina said, already heading off into the woods. Amelia whimpered "But Ms. Inverse, we've only been here a few minutes, everyone's tired and sore". Lina turned around and growled fiercely "Would you rather be dead and buried? Kraxor is after us, and unless you want to spend the next millennium feeding your rotting carcass to the worms, I suggest we get moving now".

A blue stone fist smashed right in front of Lina's face, blocking her off from the forest. Zelgatis hissed "We need to talk". The red headed girl simply growled and glared her burning green orbs right into Zel's, "Move or be moved". Rage fueled Zelgatis as he grabbed Lina by her throat, lifted her up into the air, and tossed her to the ground. "I SAID WE NEED TO TALK" Zelgatis shouted, his blue green eyes boiling with indescribable anger.

"There's nothing TO talk about Zel" Lina snapped. The stone warrior laughed "That's a good one Lina, that's real funny. Or better yet, how about you tell us the one where you drop the act and start telling us what's really going on around here?". The sorceress frowned "I have nothing more to say to you". Zelgatis growled "Well I've got plenty to say to you, so shut up and listen. Five minutes ago I was just thrown across this forest like a rag doll.

Thrown by one of the most feared and powerful conquerors this world has ever known, a conqueror who seems to know you quite well. So well in fact, he's been using his magic to wipe out villages and cities just to get your attention. Kraxor is hunting you Lina, hunting you for something you refuse to tell us about. Something happened between you two 7 years ago didn't it? Something that got him so mad he would come all this way just to kill you.

Despite all the legends I've heard about him, I have never heard that there was a single soul that knew Kraxor before those 7 years. Well, no living souls anyway. You called him a name, a name that he reacted very violently to, which means you know things about him that we don't. Now we have been by your side through thick and in, we've battled monsters, demons, sorcerers, and every other threat that has ever attacked us or this planet.

But now, the most dangerous force the world has ever known is coming after you. He's come here for you and maybe even for us. Unless you want us to deliver your ass to him on a silver platter, you better start talking right now and tell us everything you know. Who is Kraxor? How does he know you? Where did he get those powers? And why does he want revenge on you?". Amelia, Gourry, and Zelgatis all stared at Lina, awaiting her answer.

Lina sighed "All right guys, if you really, really want to know, I'll tell you. It all began 7 years ago".

* * *

To be continued…… 


	6. Dead Tales

Dead Tales

The young sorceress sat down an on rock next to a slow moving stream, her friends and allies circled around her in a little camp like circle. Lina sighed, already feeling doubt and dread for speaking of this sorrowful story.

Lina frowned "The only other people who know this story are……well there dead. I've kept it a secret for 7 long years, and carried this terrible scar which up until now I've been able to hide. But now it looks like that scar is back, and I got no choice but to tell you guys the truth about everything".

Gourry nodded "Were ready when you are Lina".

"Yes Ms. Inverse, please tell us" Amelia cheerfully asked.

Zelgatis added "Everything".

Lina sighed "All right, this all started long before me or Kraxor……I mean Jacob was ever born. There was once a kingdom, a kingdom that was famous for being the center of all magical ingredients, materials, and weapons. It was called Zannigar. Zannigar was built upon the richest source of magical minerals ever recorded. The ruler of this land, King Vermond made Zannigar very prosperous with his wealth and control of the minerals.

People would travel thousands of miles just to find Zannigar. There was no place else like it. You could find magical items to empower your sword, your spells, even your voice. Emeralds and stones were sold at every shop; it was all there nicely tucked in the peaceful, prosperous kingdom of Zannigar. Now because the city's main resource was magical items, Vermond always made sure that no dangerous magic's ever fell into the public's hands.

Vermond kept any dangerous or evil magical items, weapons, and stones locked in his treasure vault, deep in the bowels of his castle. But unfortunately, that is what ultimately lead to this town's inevitable destruction. One day Vermond's son, Errol had discovered a powerful crystal buried deep at the bottom of a small well. Errol immediately showed it to his father, who took the crystal and rushed it to his master chambers.

For the next 2 weeks, Errol would not see his father. No one knows why or how it happened, but the king had somehow become possessed by the power of this crystal. Researchers called it "Gilgamesh's Heart". A supposed mythical gemstone that had been in the possession of some of the greatest kings that had ever lived. The power of the stone drove Vermond into madness, and he immediately ceased all selling of magical items.

Vermond savagely ordered his troops to confiscate the most powerful, and rarest of magical items. Swords, staffs, jewels, armor, Vermond took them all and selfishly kept them for himself. People started to call him King Venom, and would stage angry mob protests outside his castle walls. Not even Prince Errol knew what his father was doing with those items; he'd locked himself in his chambers for weeks without ever coming out.

He didn't sleep, he didn't eat, he just kept working and working, but on what no one knew. Errol hoped to stop this nightmare and help his fellow citizens, so he broke into his father's chamber and discovered a horrible sight. King Vermond now King Venom, was melting down every single magical weapon confiscated into armor molds. The king was constructing a suit of armor, fueled by the magic of the most powerful weapons in the world.

Venom banished his son from his castle, and sent him to rot in the mobs of his crumbling kingdom. But Errol would not just roll over and die. The former prince led the mobs with a series of devastating rebellious attacks. A war broke out, millions of homes and lives were destroyed in the merciless blood bath. Zannigar was reduced to nothing but a bunch of burning shambles. At the climax of the war, Errol fought his way into the castle.

The prince confronted his father just as he finished adding the last piece, Gilgamesh's heart. He placed it right in the center plate of the suit of armor. At that very moment, King Venom was in possession of the most powerful, destructive, weapon ever assembled, the Darkpocalypse armor. The final battle between father and son, good and evil was underway. With Errol's strength and courage, he was able to defeat his father and claim victory.

But it was short lived. As soon as Errol went to destroy the Darkpocalypse armor, the same maddening temptations that poisoned his father, was now infecting him. Venom and Errol entered a violent struggle for control of the armor. Errol had also become consumed by the power of the armor, just like his father. Both tried to use the power of the armor to destroy each other's foe, and instead ended up destroying them selves and Zannigar in 1 big blast.

The souls of Errol, Venom, and all those killed in the kingdom's war became trapped inside the haunted steel of the Darkpocalypse armor. Only further adding to its unfathomable power. Legend has it that to this very day, that the armor still exists and that it is waiting for its rightful owner, in the dead king's master chambers. Naturally bounty hunters and treasure seekers have ventured out to the ruins of Zannigar, all searching for the legendary armor.

And naturally none of them have ever been seen again. The armor's magic was so powerful, that it transformed Zannigar into a graveyard of monsters and demons. Every soul killed upon the ruins of the fallen kingdom was consumed by the armor, making it stronger and stronger. When I was 16, I captured a wanted thief who had stolen a copy of a map leading directly to Zannigar. Needless to say I cashed in the crook and kept the map for myself.

My powers were no where near as strong as they are now, so I knew for sure I'd be zombie meat if I went in alone. What I needed was a hunting party, a team of powerful warriors and sorcerers who could help me get the armor. In other words: I needed a patsy. Someone who could do all the dirty work, clear a road to Zannigar, and then watch as I claimed the armor for myself. After a few days of searching, I finally found my man, his name was Jacob.

Jacob Loomis. A young criminal who had spent most of his career kidnapping beautiful maidens, and holding them for ransom from different towns. However this backfired more then on one occasion. Jacob was a skilled swordsman, and had the power of a Ganick (reptilian humanoid) on his side. But even with his Ganick friend, Gill, Jacob was a poor sorcerer. Town warriors often rescued his meal tickets before Jacob could cash'em in.

So I approached Jacob and introduced myself. He seemed like a decent guy, ambitions were set a bit too high but he was very trusting. I told him about the map and proposed a bargain. If Jacob and his friends helped me make it to Zannigar, I'd share my map and the armor's power with him once we obtained it. Jacob agreed. And that's how it was, just me, Jacob, Gill, the muscle man Norg, and my least favorite member Salmaya, a priestess.

Salmaya was one of the maidens they had kidnapped from a village, she however was glad she was away from her home. Like me, she was also capable of powerful magic spells; her specialty was power of persuasion and body. Salmaya could read minds, sense emotions, even physically stop her opponent's cold with a "body freeze" spell. She was the only one who didn't trust me. Jacob never suspected a thing about me, neither did Gill or Norg.

Together we defeated monsters, vampires, zombies, killer worms, and every other spook and specter that messed with us. As our journey continued, Salmaya was hoping to warn Jacob of my treachery before we reached the castle. You see Salmaya had fallen in love with Jacob. Crook or no crook, he was a decent man, one that Salmaya adored regardless of his bloody past. When we entered King Venom's castle, we immediately started searching.

This……this is where things start to go down hill. I followed Gill and Norg, and managed to get rid of them using some well placed magic spells and a few conveniently placed traps lying around. Now there was only Salmaya left to deal with. Once we reached the underground section, we found King Venom's chambers guarded by an army of zombies. Jacob, Salmaya and I fought our way through the zombies, blasting them one by one into bones.

But before Salmaya could make it through the doors, someone……I mean I blasted her back into the horde of zombies. Jacob didn't have a clue. He assumed she tripped on a rock and fell back into the zombies, he didn't take it too well. But we had made it, we had finally made it all the way through Zanigar and into Venom's castle, we had found the Darkpocalypse armor, and we were completely alone. It was just me, Jacob, and absolute power".

Jacob gasped "We did it…… I can't believe we finally did it Lina. We obtained the obtainable, the trophy of the gods. I just wish (bites lip) I just wish our team mates were here to see it".

Lina grinned "Don't worry about that……they will soon enough".

Jacob turned confusedly "Huh? Lina what'd you say? I didn't hear what……

The man turned around to see Lina with her hand outstretched before herself. A powerful charge of red fire magic charged in her hands, and Lina was aiming it right at Jacob. The man gasped as Lina simply smiled and winked.

"Fire ball" Lina Inverse shouted.

BAM!

The man screamed as he was blasted back from the armor, his body sprawled in incredible agony. Fire burned across his form as Jacob patted himself down to put it out.

The woman smirked "Thanks for all your help Jacob, never would have gotten this far by myself".

Jacob coughed "What, what do you mean, what are you talking about?".

Lina laughed evilly "Oh come; don't tell me you haven't figured it out yet. Can't you see what's going on? Your usefulness has ended champ".

"My what? Lina come on please, I don't get what your saying. I didn't do anything; WE did, together and you I, as a team" Jacob begged.

The sorceress chucked a chilling roar of maniacal laughter.

Lina shook her head "That's just it, there is NO we, and there never was. I never had any intentions of sharing the armor with you or your pathetic little friends. And with you out of the way, I'll be feared as the greatest sorceress that ever lived. Lina Inverse: sorceress supreme, it has a nice ring to it".

Jacob blinked "What, I don't believe this, you used me? No……NO this can't be, this can't be happening".

Lina smirked "Oh but it is Jacob, and if your dumb ass barnyard buddies hadn't kicked the bucket, this wouldn't be happening. Fortunately I took care of them while you were busy. It was easy actually, especially that little snitch of a witch, Salmaya".

Jacob hatefully screamed "NO! What did you do to her god dammit?".

"I didn't lie about the zombie part, rather it was HOW she fell into the zombie mob. And now there is nothing left to stop me from obtaining the Darkpocalypse armor, except you" Lina answered.

The man groaned as he staggered to his feet, quickly unsheathing his sword. Lina shrugged and blasted a powerful spell against his legs. Jacob screamed as he felt paralyzing thunder bolts slice through his tenements, the man collapsed to the ground in pain. The woman chuckled as she circled him.

The crippled man growled "You……you used me, you used all us and then dumped us like yesterday's trash. I HATE YOU! I hate you, you heartless stinking traitor".

Lina giggled "Poor, poor, poor Jacob. You know that name really doesn't strike terror into the hearts of the living, you really should try and come up with something a little bit better. Tyrants need a terrifying nickname".

Jacob shouted "We trusted you! How could you do this to us? We were your friends. We laughed together, we ate together, and we shared our lives together. I m-m-mean you monster, how could you betray us like that?".

The sorceress continued "It's really easy you see I knew if I waited long enough, I would find a great, big, stupid, dead beat loser dumb enough to trust me. Then, use your friends and their skills to clear the road to the most powerful weapon ever created. Thanks again pal, couldn't have done it without you".

Jacob cried "You've betrayed me, I swear to the gods I'll get you for this Lina. Do you hear me? I swear on the graves of my friends I will make you PAY for this. We WILL have our revenge!".

"Sayonara loser……DRAGON SLAVE!" Lina screamed.

* * *

The young sorceress sighed "I killed him……I killed Jacob with my very first dragon slave. I removed the heart of Gilgamesh long enough to absorb it's powers into my body, and then used it to create my dragon slave attack. After Jacob was dead, I dumped the heart and left it there to rot along with the armor……and what was left of Jacob. That was 7 years ago". As Lina finished her story, nothing but a cold, chilling gust of silenced responded.

Gourry, Zelgatis, and Amelia had nothing to say at all. The gang simply stared at the ground with unblinking eyes, unable to express even the slightest bit of human emotions. A lumbering shadow climbed over the group's hanging heads, and a sickening hyena sounding laugh. Everyone turned to see a smiling Kraxor just standing there, watching them. Lina's eyes brimmed with tears as the ghostly figure glared right in her direction.

Kraxor smirked "Now then, how about I tell you all what happened NEXT?".

* * *

To be continued…… 


	7. Together Again

Together Again

The clanking boots of Kraxor's dragon clawed talons scraped loudly over the crunching stones, and chunks of mangled grass. Lina and her friends jumped immediately with panic at sight of their dark foe. Kraxor grinned wickedly "Now that we finished with the preliminaries, let's get on to the main event. After Lina betrayed me and left me to DIE in that cave, I thought for sure that would be the end of me. But it turns out I was wrong.

And Lina was wrong too, wrong about the armor anyway. You see for all the good that map did her; she never learned the complete true story behind the Darkpocalypse armor. This means she had no idea of the magic spell over it". Amelia blinked "Magic spell, uh what kind of magic spell?". Kraxor replied "I'm so glad you asked. You see, King Venom was by no means a fool, even through out all his madness, he was aware of his son's betrayal.

So before he competed in his final battle for control over the armor, King Venom placed a magic spell over it. The spell made the armor's power completely inaccessible to everyone except who the spell allowed. Lina may have gained power from the heart of Gilgamesh, but the armor would never respond to her commands. That's why she left it there. The dumb twit couldn't figure out why it wasn't working, so she left it there with my body.

Big mistake. The spell stated there was only 1 person who could truly wield the true power of the armor, and that was the lost soul, me". The gang was very perplexed by this statement, not understanding exactly what that meant. Even Zelgatis knowledge of magic's hadn't reached that kind of spells. The dark warrior laughed "Don't you see? It could never be stolen, it had to be earned. Lina used us so she could take the armor, she took the easy way out.

The armor will only go to a dark soul who truly deserves it. I worked my tail off to find this armor, I risked the life of my friends and myself just to find it. The armor felt my motives; it fed off my desires of hatred and vengeance. But Lina didn't work her way to the top like I did. By using me and my friends, she cheated her way to reaching true power. So, after she left, the magic of the Darkpocalypse armor activated and surrounded my corpse.

The armor's power pulled my body back together, my arms, my legs, everything that was me was rebuilt through the power of black magic. I had been resurrected stronger, faster, and better then ever before. My lust for revenge made me and the armor strong. And with a thousand dead souls fueling my vengeance, I knew that nothing would stop me from making Lina pay for what she did to me". Kraxor's story ended, Lina just gulped in terror.

The gang's thoughts betrayed them, already they were thinking if this was the real Lina, or if she is in fact just like Kraxor says. The red headed girl turned pale as she stuttered "Pp-p-please it was a big m-m-m-mistake, I swear I didn't mean for this to happen" Lina said. "LIAR" Kraxor said with fiery devil's magic burning in his eyes. Rage screamed from the dark wizard's mouth "How dare you lie to me, who do you think your talking to?

The only reason you're feeling sorry is because you're afraid I'm going to kill you, THAT'S IT. But the truth is you're not sorry at all, well that's too bad for you. You should have been nicer to the people you DIDN'T fear". The girl cried as she shoved past her friends and ran her terrified heart out, Kraxor screamed "NO". A powerful energy beam was blasted from Kraxor's claw gloves, the red beam stunned Lina and forced her to drop to the ground.

Gourry snarled "You're going down right NOW". The blonde warrior flared his sword of light and charged with all his fury, swinging the powerful blade at Kraxor wildly. Kraxor took a deep breath and suddenly spat it back out at Gourry. The swordsman blinked as crystal clear blue dust spewed from Kraxor's lips. "EW Yuck, bleach, what the hell kind of attack is that, spitting on people? I AGH" Gourry gasped. The man was suddenly frozen solid.

"Gourry, oh my god Mr. Zelgatis, what did he ERK" Amelia squeaked. The girl was frozen in a block of frigid ice as well, and Zelgatis fell to the same fate before he could counter attack. Now Lina's friends were frozen and completely helpless, much like her situation. The frightened sorceress winced as her legs felt like they were on fire, Lina couldn't move an inch. Kraxor smiled as he walked past the frozen faces of Lina's friends slowly.

Lina's former friend approached her with a disturbing slow pace, as if taking his time to enjoy her suffering. The whole world seemed to be casting Lina into the path of the monster she created. No allies, no friends, no humans, no animals, not a creature in the world to save the shivering young woman. A sadistically pleased Kraxor sighed "You don't know how much this moment means to me. I'm almost tingling at the thought of it, it's quite exhilarating".

Swelled up tears trickle down from Lina's frightened face, her heart aching at the icy grip of death crushing upon her spirit. "Please……don't do this, don't make the same mistake I did Jacob" Lina pleaded. Laughter roared from Kraxor's lips "Oh don't you worry about that red, I won't repeat your mistakes, this time I'm going to make sure my victim STAYS dead". Fear compelled Lina to scream, tears rained down as she cried "I'M SORRY.

I'm sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry god dammit. Can't you see that? I was young, I was stupid, and I was greedy. I was so desperate for power I was willing to do anything to get it. You were an innocent Jacob, you and all your friends; I ruined all of your lives. But I've changed, I'm not a monster anymore, I don't want to hurt anyone. Nothing I say can ever repay the pain and suffering I caused you, but please don't kill me, vengeance will only ACK".

The sobbing plea of a desperate woman on the brink of death was suddenly silenced. Kraxor's steel claw gloves wrapped rightly around the girl's trembling throat, the flames of Hell burning brightly in his hollow orbs. The wizard scowled "Vengeance you say? Is that what you call it? HA. There isn't enough vengeance in the world to repay what you did to me Lina. You didn't just kill me, you sent me to HELL, and I'm here to return the favor".

Hovering winds suddenly flourish under the boots of the 2 wayward wizards, powerful energies began to levitate them off the ground. Lina squeaked "W-w-w-w-where are we going?". A smiling Kraxor simply replied "Why to grant your wish Lina Inverse, I'm going to make you a living legend". But the girl just stared at him in confusion, she had no idea what he was talking about. "Now then, let's get started" Kraxor grinned.

* * *

Hours pass and the frozen chunks of ice melt away from the frozen travelers. Gourry, Zelgatis, and Amelia shake off the cracking blocks of ice from their heads, rubbing their frozen arms for warmth.

Gourry burred "MAN that is c-c-c-cold; I've never felt so frozen in my entire life".

Zelgatis hummed "We should be so lucky; he could have just killed us you know. But fortunately for us it's Lina he's after".

Amelia frowned "HEY, that's not very nice. I don't think Ms. Inverse appreciates you talking about her that way".

Zelgatis snapped "In case you didn't notice, she's not here at the moment".

Slowly realizing this truth, the young dark haired girl examined her surroundings and found them to be bare. Lina was indeed no where to be found. The gang also realized that Kraxor had disappeared as well, no doubt responsible for Lina's disappearance.

Amelia giggled "Oh yeah, sorry".

The swordsman asked curiously "Well if she's gone, and Kraxor is gone, then where do you suppose of the two of them went?".

The flying dark sorcerer slowly cradled the unconscious body of Lina Inverse in his powerful arms. Dragon fanged boots clank as they land upon solid dirt, the man dropped the woman with little concern. Lina groaned as she rubbed her throbbing red haired head with pain. Kraxor had taken Lina back to Ballsworth, the same town she and her friends had been run out of.

Lina winced "Ow……hey wait a minute, this is Ballsworth. I don't understand. Why did you bring me here, what are we doing here? Come on……TELL ME! What is this supposed to be Kraxor?".

Kraxor grinned "The beginning of the end Lina Inverse HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA!".

* * *

To be continued…… 


	8. A Hard Lesson

A Hard Lesson

The tall hill rested firmly above the calmed streets of the once violent Ballsworth town. The villagers sighed with relief knowing that Lina Inverse was long gone, if only they knew. Kraxor and Lina stared their sorrowful eyes over the faceless citizens of Ballsworth, enjoying their lives, living them up; completely unaware of the darkness that surrounds them. The wicked Kraxor never ceased grinning that smile, a sick, twisted little grin.

Kraxor sighed "Look at it red, isn't it lovely? So peaceful, so quiet, so innocent. Ballsworth is said to be one of the most peaceful villages in all the land, free of crime, murder, rape, greed, and betrayal".

The woman remained silent.

Kraxor grinned "ring any bells?".

Lina frowned "You really want me to answer that?".

The destroyer shook his green haired head "No, I just want you to watch. Watch and learn the price you pay when it comes to greed, Lina Inverse".

The wizard's metallic clawed gloves flexed under the weight of the twisted metal, Kraxor opened his palm up directly. A large ball of dark red energy sparked above the glove. Raw electricity sparked over the magical energy orb, it shined like a blood ruby before Lina's perplexed eyes.

"Class is now in session" Kraxor laughed.

The Destroyer hurled the energy ball right into the heart of Ballsworth, Lina's heart suddenly dropped.

Lina gasped "Oh my god, he's going to kill all those people".

The young woman leapt off her boots and raced down the hill, her legs pumping and flexing as her heart raced with fear. The sweat dribbled off Lina's face as the ball fell closer and closer.

"RUN, RUN AWAY. EVERYONE PLEASE, RUN FOR YOUR LIVES" she screamed.

A few townspeople turned at the ranting and screaming of the young sorceress, few paid her much attention. The people had many duties to perform and little time to waste on a girl's psychotic ramblings. The sound of a woman's scream forced the villager's eyes to look skyward. A brief glimpse of the red orb before it suddenly splashed into the center of town.

KABOOM!

Hundreds of lives suddenly ended in a wave of fire, blood, and death. Rising waves of magic fire burned down building after building. Women, men, children, all vaporized in a final scream of anguish and sadness. Lina screamed as the shockwave of the massive blast shoved her onto her back. Green eyes drenched with tears at sight of this unspeakable dark deed.

Hatefully, Lina cursed him "Bastard! How could you do that to them, they were innocent, you heartless son of a UGH".

The cold stinging feel of Kraxor's iron glove smashed across Lina's face, her jaw throbbing as blood sputtered from her lips.

An enraged Kraxor replied "Bite your tongue! You of all people should be more understanding, what I did to them was a blessing compared what you did to me".

Lina shrieked "Shut up…….shut up…….JUST SHUT THE HELL UP".

"Denial is a sign of ignorance red" Kraxor replied.

Only a cold hearted growl escaped Lina's lips.

Angrily hurling a stone at Kraxor's head, Lina just snarled at spat blood at his feet.

Lina gasped "Denial? You really want to talk about denial, because you seem pretty familiar with that emotion".

Kraxor blinked "What do you mean?".

The sorceress laughed "Oh come on! You've become so self righteous you can't even see what you've become? Well guess what Jacob……WAKE UP".

"Silence" the destroyer demanded.

Lina shouted "No, I'm not going to sit here feeling sorry for some bastard who's too stupid to see his own mistakes. What I did to you and your friends was wrong, and I'm sorry. No matter what I say or do, it will never amend the pain I caused you. But that is no excuse for your actions Kraxor, you've become a far greater monster then I'll ever be. I mean, just look at yourself.

You butcher innocents, you destroy towns, murder countless lives all for what, revenge? A petty payback scheme over something that happened 7 years ago? Get over it. You have this great power; you could do anything with it. But instead you continue to cling to a life that doesn't want you. Drowning yourself in pity and hatred, it's pathetic, absolutely pathetic".

Kraxor said nothing. It took moments for all this information to sink into the dark wizard's skull, his head spinning with new words of inspiration and hatred. Lina's heart panted with pain and anger, anger for what Kraxor has let himself become. Now the sorceress fear was gone……only pity remains.

Kraxor nodded "You pose an interesting theory red, and I respect that. However there is still one tiny, little detail that I can't help but remind you of".

The wicked Kraxor rushed towards Lina and bashed her back right into a tree; steel claws grab across her face and crushed tightly.

The mad man screamed "YOU MADE ME! Remember? You left me there to die back in Zannigar, you betrayed me, and you activated the curse on the armor. Everything I do, everything I destroy, everything I am……is because of you. I bet you had this all planned out the moment we first met.

You tricked me and my friends into helping you secure a safe path right to Zannigar. Then, you murdered my friends once you got them separated from me. You used their abilities for your own selfish purposes, and then disposed of them like mere toys.

And to top it all off, you betrayed me with the power of the very same item we had joined forces to obtain in the first place. Don't you remember red?".

Lina begged "Jacob…….ACK please……".

But Kraxor continued "I told you, Jacob Loomis is dead. He died back in Zannigar, the same day I was born. Your lust for greed and power created a world of hatred and vengeance for me to thrive on, creating my very existence. By killing me for the Darkpocalypse armor, you activated the magic that brought me back from the dead. I owe it all to you Lina Inverse.

Now, I'm going to finish the job you could never complete. I will fulfill the goals in both our lives so that we can both finally be at peace".

"What are you talking about?" Lina asked.

Kraxor smirked "I'm going to make you SUFFER Lina Inverse, I'm going to grab you by the heart and drag you into the gates of Hell. After I'm done torturing you, I shall have my revenge by ending your miserable little life. Your soul will join the others who died trying to obtain the Darkpocalypse armor, and I shall become the greatest conqueror the world has ever seen".

As the dark wizard cackled his wicked plan to the helpless sorceress, Lina bit her lip and patiently waited. The woman had to think up a plan and think it up quick. Kraxor grinned and slowly leaned down to grab Lina's head.

Lina shouted hatefully "FIRE BALL".

KABOOM!

Gigantic blasts of fire suddenly engulf Kraxor as he is struck with a fire ball spell at point blank range. Lina panted a long over due gasp of relief, seeing the powerful fires encase a stunned Kraxor. But as the flames die into a fizzling cloud of black smoke, Lina soon realizes the dark, terrible truth. Kraxor stood before her completely unharmed.

"That wasn't very nice" Kraxor snarled.

The man raised his clawed fist and unleashed a devastatingly savage blue energy beam into Lina's chest. Insufferable screams of agony roar from Lina's shrieking lips. The beams felt like the fires of Hell digging into her skull, the energy violently shoved her across the ground into a stone. Kraxor snarled as he smashed his iron boot across Lina's screaming mouth. A sickening crack of bones could be heard as Lina coughs up globs of blood.

Lina shivers as she spits out a couple of broken teeth from her bleeding mouth as well. The Destroyer grinned sadistically at all of this, raising his sword high into the air.

The wizard smiled "Now, scream for me".

SHINK!

The snap of bones crunched under the shattering force of Kraxor driving his saber directly into Lina's left shoulder. Blood oozed violently from the girl's open wound, screams roar from Lina as tears pour down her cheeks. Kraxor simply laughed as he drilled the blade deeper and deeper into Lina's arm. The searing pains screaming into Lina's burning, broken muscles were indescribable. Kraxor leaned down and smiled at Lina's tear soaked face.

Kraxor chuckled "Memories……such wonderful memories ah red? Hard to believe how close we were 7 years ago, so very, very close. What do you say we".

Painful cries erupted from Lina, wincing at the stinging pains.

The woman screamed as her head was pulled back, steel claw fingertips digging into her scalp as Kraxor held her skull.

"See what skeletons you've got hidden in your closet, I know I'm just DYING to find out" Kraxor cackled.

Lina screamed "AHHHHHH".

* * *

To be continued…… 


	9. Saving Faith

Saving Faith

The flashes of blurry images streak across the racing mind of the sorceress. Lost voices, forgotten tears, so many painful memories flooding back at once. Lina could barely stand it.

I don't trust her Jacob……

She's my friend……

I follow you my master……

She's EVIL I tell you……

Were almost there……

This is the chance of a lifetime……

There will be a betrayal……

No one will stand in our way……

I have foreseen it……

True power awaits us my friends……

Sayonara loser……

NOOOOO!

* * *

"AHHHH" Lina screamed, the whole world suddenly crashed into her pounding head as tears streamed down her blood soaked face. The fowl, rotten and repulsive smell of burnt flesh stung Lina's assaulted senses. The smirking smile of a devilish man greeted the weary woman. "Ah, were awake I see, welcome back to the living Inverse" Kraxor said. Wicked laughter echoed from Kraxor's lips, finding the word living most amusing.

Stinging eyes awakened to a world of pain and suffering. Black smoke, red flames and sizzling flesh rotted before Lina's very eyes. During Lina's dreadful nightmare, Kraxor had destroyed another village. More and more lives weighed upon the woman's conscience, her heart and soul aching with misery. Silent sobs wept from Lina's face as she cried into the blood stained Earth. "The truth hurts……doesn't it red? Good" Kraxor replied to her.

"Stop, please just stop" Lina whimpered. Kraxor blinked "Stop, stop, STOP? Oh that's real funny, especially coming from you. I'm on the verge of making you the most feared sorceress in the entire planet and you want me to STOP? I'm simply giving what you've always wanted. What you fought for, what you stole for, what you KILLED me for" the man screamed. A gut wrenching slam from Kraxor's boot crunched deep into Lina's stomach.

More pain crushed around Lina's young face as Kraxor's steel claws grappled her soft cheeks. The dark wizard scowled "You robbed me of my life, my future, my friends, my very existence. Nothing I do can ever repair the damage you have caused me Lina Inverse. I'm stuck on this planet as a walking corpse, an indestructible monster with unlimited power, cursed to roam this Earth for all eternity. All because of you're selfish need for power.

There is no Heaven nor is there a Hell for me, there is only this, nothing but death and destruction". The claws crushed tighter around Lina's neck, holding the crippled girl for the final blow. Kraxor raised his sword up high, charging it with a powerful dark green glow. "There is however a Hell for you red, and it's time you got a taste of its fires" Kraxor said. Lina's eyes welled up with tears and blood; she shook her head and pleaded to Kraxor.

"See you in hell Inverse" Kraxor laughed. SHINK! The wizard roared back his head and screamed, a saber of light was jammed in the base of his spine. "Allow me to cut in" Gourry said as he leapt in the air, crashing in a powerful tackle into Kraxor. Strong arms suddenly lifted Lina off her weary feet, her torn boots crack as she is dragged off. "Hold on Ms. Lina, we got you now" Amelia said to her. Zelgatis grabbed something from his pockets.

BOOM! "UGH" Gourry grunted as he was blasted away, Kraxor's powerful magic easily defeated the blonde swordsman. "Your interfering existences shall no longer be tolerated" Kraxor said, grunting as he removed Gourry's sword from his back and tossed it aside. Amelia gulped as she spotted Kraxor's attention focused squarely on her. The young girl knew with the weakened Lina slowing her down, neither one had a chance against Kraxor.

Zelgatis frowned "Amelia run, I call upon the Seeds of Fallgathia, ENTRAP". The stone man tossed a glowing handful of magical seeds towards the feet of Kraxor. Brimming black energies sprouted tree stems from the Earth, the magical seedlings started to snare Kraxor tightly. Black wood laced with dark green stems stung into Kraxor's armor, the dark wizard screamed angrily. "RAHHHHH" the Destructor screamed hatefully.

"That will buy us time, now come on, we have to get Lina into the town and fast" Zelgatis said. The trio carried Lina off into the burnt remains of the destroyed town, hoping to find something of great importance. Kraxor's anger fueled his magic as he started to melt away the magic stem straps. The charred remains of a magic store are where Zelgatis decided to hide Lina. The stone man smiled "Good, so far everything's going according to plan".

Red beams sliced the stems apart as Kraxor broke free from his Earthly prison, rage and black magic empowered the mad man's monstrous anger. The green haired wizard screamed into the air.

* * *

Kraxor howled "Get back here Inverse……Inverse……INVERSE! You can't escape me; I'll hunt you to the ENDS OF THE EARTH".

Gourry and Amelia watched Zelgatis frantically look through out the rotting remains of the magic shop. Lina groaned weakly in her friend's arms, practically unconscious.

Gourry frowned "It won't be long before that destroyer guy finds us".

"Mr. Gourry is right, we've got to hurry up or else Ms. Lina is dead meat" Amelia nodded.

The stone man sighed "There is no way my plan will work at this rate, we have to buy ourselves some time. We need a distraction".

The girl nodded as they began to ponder their options, slowly but surely, Zelgatis and Amelia both turned towards Gourry.

Gourry shook his head "WHOA, no, no, and triple no. There is no way I am going out there to fight that guy".

The stone man pleaded "You have to Gourry; you're the only one strong enough. Amelia's magic is not even close, and I am the only one who knows how to perform the spell we need. All you need to do is hold Kraxor off for as long as possible".

"He's gonna kick my ass and you know it" Gourry shouted.

Zelgatis growled "If you don't stop him, it's going to be all of our asses including Lina's".

The name of his beloved fallen, female friend was enough to make Gourry realize that was this big stuff. His blue eyes filled with such sadness at the sight of Lina's once beautiful face. The blonde swordsman raised his saber of light, and nodded with reluctant acceptance.

The swordsman nodded "All right, I'll do it. Just make sure you make it snappy or else were all done for".

The stone man nodded as Gourry ran out of the burnt magic shop, and prepared to face the advancing Kraxor. The dark wizard growled at sight of the swordsman blocking his path. Meanwhile Amelia had placed Lina into the back room, quickly returning to aid Zelgatis in his search for magical items.

"All right Amelia, I need to find the following things. Even if it's broke or burnt, we have to use THESE items" Zelgatis said.

Amelia blinked "Okay then, what do we need?".

Zelgatis replied "Four crystals of Eltar, one Nicrandian sphere, the ashes of Daurmamu, two fangs of Critious, and the book of Enerjak".

The young Amelia blinked curiously, "Huh what kind of magic spell are you going to use?".

Zelgatis grinned "A very dangerous one. But if it works Amelia, if it truly works, even someone as powerful as Kraxor the Destroyer won't stand a chance".

* * *

To be continued…… 


	10. Countdown

Countdown

"WAAHHHHHHHH" Gourry screamed as he was hurled across the sky like a rag doll. The blonde warrior groaned upon crashing into the Earth with painful force. Kraxor frowned "This is a pointless waste of my time, I'm through toying with weaklings like you, give me INVERSE". The wizard blasted a powerful green magic blast at Gourry; the knight gasped and dodged it. Leaping again and again, the warrior could barely keep this up.

But Gourry had to keep this battle going as long as possible. The longer Kraxor was stalled, the more time Zelgadis had to complete the magic spell he was preparing. A flash of shimmering light emerged from Gourry's legendary sword of light. "Is that all you got tough guy? Let's see if you can dance too" Gourry said. The warrior charged at Kraxor, his light saber swinging wildly towards the dark wizard. Kraxor groaned with boredom.

Clashing blades caused massive sparks as the 2 warriors sliced sword against sword, energies surging through their steel. Kraxor grinned wickedly "Not bad Blondie, your sword's power is quite impressive. But it is nothing when compared to the power of Darkpocalypse armor". Gourry was thrown off by a powerful red magic blast from Kraxor's sword. The wicked wizard was done with this game; he raised his glowing claw gloves high into the sky.

"I call upon the seven shadows of the blood soaked steps of Descartes, bring forth the devil's wraith" Kraxor commanded. Red smoke fumed from Kraxor's head, and started to billow up in the sky above him. Raw electricity surged into the red smoke from the blackened clouds. A pair of arms was formed, then a chest, a neck, and finally a head, complete with 2 very long horns. A powerful shadow demon had been summoned by Kraxor's magic.

Gourry gulped "Awwwwwwwe shit".

* * *

Meanwhile, deep in the rotting, burning bowels of the town's magic shop……

Zelgadis nodded "Okay Amelia, spread the dust around the crystal formation".

The young girl emptied a small bag of black dust upon the floor, tracing it in a circle around the 5 crystals. The 4 green Eltar crystals stood on 4 posts, surrounding the centered crystal of Nicandria.

"Good work" Zelgadis said.

Amelia quickly asked "All right, what's next?".

The stone man quickly checked the pages of the book of Enerjak, going over the spell's requirements one final time.

Zelgadis hummed "Take the 2 fangs and crunch them into small shards. Then dump the shards over the sphere and step back.

Amelia used a small light spell to shatter the 2 fangs. The girl dumped the shards over the sphere's base, and watched as sparkling surges started to envelop it.

The stone man sighed "It's time to begin the spell. Amelia, take care of Lina. If this doesn't work, she may be our only hope at defeating this monster".

* * *

BASH! The red spirit's fist crashed a building into spare splinters with one blow. Gourry gasped as he ducked under another vicious side swipe, the creature was too large to hide from. Every building, home, or hiding spot Gourry went behind; Kraxor's shadow creature destroyed it with little effort. The blonde warrior panted with heavy drenched sweat, hiding from Kraxor again. "Just a few more minutes, come on, just a few more" Gourry said.

Kraxor shouted "You can't win oaf, this skirmish is just as useless as you are. Sooner or later I'm going to find you, and END your miserable life once and for all. After that, Lina's hide is as good as mine". Taking a chance, Gourry leapt from his hiding spot and hurled his sword forward. The light blade passed right through the shadow demon, as if slicing through air. Kraxor laughed "Idiot, the devil's wraith is not some sort of living beast.

It's a shadow, on an entirely different plane of existence. You can't hurt it". The shadow's red hands grappled over Gourry's body, the young knight was lifted right off the ground. "But it can hurt you" Kraxor snickered. Gourry gulped as he closed his eyes shut, BASH, his body was slammed into a building. The demon was grinding him through the crumbling buildings. The dark wizard laughed at Gourry's pain, tossing him aside like a broken toy.

"Ugh" the blonde man said as he dropped to the ground, his face painfully buried in the dirt alongside his fallen weapon. The dark Destroyer continued to comment "You can't win Gourry, accept it". Weak blue boots staggered Gourry to a weary fighting position, his light blade tightly secured in his shaking hands. "NEVER" Gourry scowled, Kraxor replied wickedly "Still don't get it do you? There's no magic on this world that can stop me.

You only live because I ALLOW you to live; none of you stand a chance against me. For with in this ancient armor, lies a definition of power you can't even begin to fathom in your puny, brainless, little skull". The dark, metallic armor started to energize with swarms of powerful magic particles. Steel plated snake eyes on the chest's emblem started to glow, Kraxor's power was growing. Gourry feared he wasn't going to survive this blast.

The Destroyer bellowed "It ends now Gourry". Blue eyes darted to the left, and there it was, Gourry had found his way out. "You right, it does" Gourry said. The light saber was thrown towards the only standing structure in the town, a water tower. The crumbling posts cracked under the fried wood stabilizers, Gourry's sword sliced them in half. The water tower collapsed its countless gallons of water onto Gourry, just in time to defuse Kraxor's blast.

WHOOSH!

"ARRRGH" Kraxor scowled as the water splashed over his green hair, the mystic armor's magic properties failing. The Destroyer's concentration was too fractured to hold the blast's formation. By the time the demon spirit defused into smoke, Gourry and his saber were no where to be found. It was at this time the dark wizard realized what Gourry had been doing. Flashing green and blue lights were emanating from a broken down magic shop.

Zelgadis and Amelia gulped as they saw the looming shadow approaching the shop, Gourry had lost. Amelia cowered "B-b-b-b-b-better hurry up Mr. Z-z-z-z-zelgadis". The doors were vaporized by Kraxor's dark green magic. Amelia bravely charged the dark wizard and smashed a steel rod into his chest. SHINK! The rod snapped in two, breaking upon impact of Kraxor's magic armor. "How droll" Kraxor said before backhanding Amelia's face.

The powerful swipe dropped the girl to the ground, her bruised cheek throbbing with pain. "I need more time" the stone man whispered. Swirling beams of blue, green, black, and grey circled Zelgadis as he performed the spell. The magic brimming through out the mystical objects was nearly at its peak. With just a few more words, and a truck load of hope, this spell would stop Kraxor for good. Zelgadis shook his head "It's not over yet destroyer".

The green haired man laughed, and removed his sword with his steel claw gloves. "And who's going to stop me?" Kraxor asked, "ME" a female voice said. FASCHOOM! Kraxor was suddenly blasted by a tremendous fireball; he growled and roared in fiery agony. Lina stood behind Zelgadis, exhausted and exasperated. Gourry suddenly rushed in the plunged the light saber directly into Kraxor's chest, it sliced through his back and out of his chest.

* * *

Gourry shouted "NOW, ZAP EM NOW".

"Everyone get down" Lina announced.

Zelgadis began "_By the clocks of runic time, and souls of forgotten pasts…_

_Let your power become mine, endow my holiest of blasts…_

_Hatred and death breed no more, rise up, rise up, the chains of hate…_

_I cast out your blood soaked score, gods I command you, condemn him to his fate……_

_Kasheem kalam, Kasheem kalam, fortention jah, scalar fala…_

_Demon be gone, demon be GONE. I banish you to your eternal prison, ZANKARI DAMAL!"_

SHRAKKAKKABOOM!

* * *

The magical blue light surrounding the shop exploded with a gigantic, incinerating energy blast. The entire shop was completely destroyed by the magic spell. Gourry, Amelia, Lina, and Zelgadis covered their eyes as the magic rays worked their mystical magic on the cursed Kraxor, the destroyer. It took only a matter of minutes before the blast started to clear down. Zelgadis coughed, wheezing out dust from the pages of the fried spell book.

"AWE man, cough, I didn't expect it to be THAT big, may have used a bit too much of the critious fang" Zelgadis gagged. Planks of shattered wood rained down upon the weary travelers, also overwhelmed by the magic's awesome force. Lina groaned "Is everyone all right?", a whimper of a reply escaped Amelia "I think so, aside from all the dancing stars I'm seeing". Lina and Zelgadis groaned, Gourry staggered back into the shop slowly.

The young knight asked "So, did we get him?". The gang looked around curiously, finding no sight of Kraxor from the spot he was standing in. There was however boot skid marks raked across the wood and outside of the shop. Zelgadis hummed "This is strange, I don't see his magic armor anywhere". Lina blinked "So? Isn't that a good thing?" Amelia also added "Yeah, if the spell blew Mr. Kraxor up, it would make sense if his armor blew up too".

"But that's just the thing, the spell wasn't supposed to blow him up" Zelgadis said. The gang gasped at this, and also at the sight of a figure outside of the shambled shop. The fading blue aura of a lone wizard stood outside the store. Zelgadis gasped "N-n-no it's not p-p-possible, it can't be". But it was him, Kraxor the destroyer, completely unharmed by the blast. "THAT tears it, you 3 have stood in my way for the last time" Kraxor said.

Magic particles formed in Kraxor's steel claws, he opened them and fired twin colorful beams at Zelgadis. "AHHHHHH" the stone wizard cried out as the beams struck him. Grey flesh started to crawl and consume his blue stone skin, Zelgadis body was freezing up from the waist down. But there was no ice growing, Zelgadis body was actually turning into a stone statue. The blue haired wizard cried out before becoming forever frozen in silence.

Lina and Gourry gasped, eyes too horrified to even comprehend this. Amelia's face became drenched with sweat, her face totally awe stricken. The young girl's closest friend was just turned to stone right before her eyes. Amelia, fueled with sorrow and hatred, screamed at Kraxor. "MONSTER, what the hell did you to him?" Amelia said. Annoyed, the wizard turned to Amelia "Nothing compared to what I'm going to do to YOU" Kraxor said.

Cold hearted eyes glared a flash of powerful energy beams as they fired upon Amelia. The young girl's body became heavily electrified by the power of the beams, she screamed and shook uncontrollably. POOF! Gourry gulped as he watched Amelia vanish in a puff of smoke. But even more shocking to the young knight, was where Amelia had vanished too. In the girl's place, a small, pink fish was seen flopping on the ground helplessly.

"I don't believe it, he just turned Amelia into a FISH" Lina gasped. With both of her friends out of the way, Kraxor now felt it was time to deal with Lina. The destroyer turned his venomous eyes towards his hated rival, glaring boundless rage under his clenched teeth. "Time to bury our little debt red, once and for all" Kraxor hissed. The years of revenge have long been overdue in Kraxor's eyes; finally, he would accomplish his life long goal.

So many nights has the dark wizard slumbered into madness, so many nights has he dreamed of tasting Lina's blood, so many nights has he died of vengeful thirst. After 7 years of suffering, agony, and pain, Kraxor the Destroyer would finally KILL Lina Inverse! "So it is Kraxor, so it is" Lina said, then nodding to Gallry. Kraxor blinked and turned to her blonde friend, blinking in confusion to see no one there. Gourry was running far, far away.

But not only that, Kraxor discovered that Amelia the fish and the stone Zelgadis were missing. "Let em have it Lina" Gourry shouted, carrying his transformed friends under each arm. This situation continued to annoy and aggravate the undead wizard. As claws of steel clenched powerful magical energies, Kraxor angrily aimed his claws towards Lina Inverse. But the red headed sorceress was already preparing her own spell, a very familiar one.

Lina Inverse chanted……

_Heed thee now who is darker than dusk.  
Heed thow which is more red than blood.  
In the name of that which has been buried in the bottom's abyss of time eternal,  
I summon thee master of the ultimate darkness.  
Have no pity on the fools who stand in our way.  
Infuse me with power, let your strength become mine.  
To wipe them from the face of this Earth,  
To deliver into them the ultimate doom._

_DRAGON SLAVE!

* * *

_

To be continued……


	11. RIP

R.I.P

My name is Kraxor……

They call me the destroyer……

I was born a man 20 years ago……

And I died a victim……

Seven years passed……

My soul returned……

But the monster was born……

And what do I desire?

Justice……

Redemption……

VENGANCE!

* * *

_You can't save me  
You can't change me  
Well I'm waiting for my wakeup call  
And everything's my fault _

You can't save me  
You can't blame me  
Well I'm waiting here to take the fall  
And everything everything's my fault

And I'm a death threat, haven't slept yet  
Baby, why the wakeup call  
I'm the bad boy, tell the tabloids  
Everything's my fault

_Everything's my fault……

* * *

_

Smoke and dust billowed over the ashes of the ghost town, only death remained. Lina's dragon slave had completely destroyed everything and anything that ever existed in the dark and dreary village of ashes. The young sorceress panted on the hill top, her hands still extended in the formation of the blast. "Gotcha" she whispered, completely drained of energy and strength. Thankfully Lina's friends had managed to escape the blast in time.

Now all that remains was to be sure that Kraxor, Lina's greatest creation, and greatest mistake, was truly dead. Silver clouds of fragmented wood circled the lifeless land as Lina approached the center. The red headed girl's body was racked with pain; she could barely stand on her own two feet. "Must find out, must find out" Lina panted. How Lina preyed the nightmare was over, how she begged the gods to forgive her for creating this beast.

The powerful suit of armor forged from blood and betrayal had proven too powerful to battle alone, even for Zelgadis. So Lina wished, she hoped, she screamed for this madness to end, and all she needed was the proof that Kraxor was dead. SLASH! A massive green blast of sword shaped energy sliced into Lina's right shoulder. The girl cried out as blood spurted from her wound. The towering shadow of a familiar figure was lurching into view.

"You want to know something red? That REALLY frigging hurt" Kraxor hissed. Kraxor emerged from the gritty smoke, sizzling his own set of scars, burn marks, and dents. The dark wizard's armor had several deep cracks all over; the chest in particular had a huge gaping hole in it. The armor bared the silvery surface of the Gilgamesh heart to the world. A green aura surrounded the armor; the chest plate's metal instantly reconstructed itself.

Kraxor growled "I can't believe you red, you actually had the nerve to use that spell on me twice. It's disgusting how after all these years you still haven't changed". Clanking boots clicked right before Lina's weary eyes, her hands still gripping over her bleeding wounds and shoulder. "This has got to stop (cough) do you hear me? This SHIT has got to stop NOW" Lina said. Kraxor kicked Lina down and crushed his iron boot across her head.

The undead wizard grinned "Your right red, this does have to stop, and I'm only too glad to do it. It's just too bad you and your stupid ass friends never got the message. I will NEVER die. This armor is indestructible, the power of the gods themselves are at my command. I can bring whole kingdoms to ruins, and make the heavens tremble in fear at my power. And after I finished killing you, I will drown this planet in the blood of my vengeance.

But the best part, ha, ha, the best part is that there's no magic, no force, no weapon, no warrior, in this or any other world that can stop me". Massive electrical energy charges circulated in Kraxor's raised left handed claw, preparing to finish Lina Inverse off. "Not even you Gourry" Kraxor said. Lina gasped as Kraxor turned around and blasted Gourry with the blast, the blonde knight's body spasmed as he was being violently electrocuted.

Gourry dropped his sword of light and skidded to the ground with a painful cry. Kraxor angrily turned his flaring eyes towards the fallen swordsman, deciding that he would be the first to die. "Ugh awe shit" Gourry groaned, the young man felt Kraxor jerk him up by his armored collar. The Destroyer replied "You just don't know when to quit, do you?", Gourry spat in his face "Go to hell". Kraxor laughed "You first", raising a newly charged blast.

* * *

_I went to heaven, but couldn't get in, for what I have done  
I said please take me, they said you're crazy, you had too much fun……_

_(Lyrics from Unwritten Law's "Save me")

* * *

"Hey Jacob……" Lina shouted._

Kraxor growled as he turned his green haired head to his most hated, and loathsome of enemies.

Lina frowned "I should have said this a long time ago Jacob".

Kraxor smiled "Oh yeah? (Drops Gourry) And what's that little Ms. Inverse?".

The red headed girl screamed as she hurled Gourry's still active light saber at Kraxor. The weapon soared right towards the wizard and slammed into his chest. Clanking chunks of metal cracked away as the saber struck. Kraxor's eyes were bulging, the Gilgamesh heart had been completely destroyed. Lina wasn't been aiming for Kraxor's armor, she was for aiming his heart.

Kraxor gasped "No……no……NOOOOOOO".

Steel claws grasped over his green hair, Kraxor screamed as the hair began to melt. Fiery energies circled the fallen warlock and engulfed him instantaneously. Ghoulish souls swirled around Kraxor's flailing limbs, he screamed as if he was being burned by the fires of hell. The mad man's own destructive dark magic was literally tearing his body apart. Spirits soared into the sky, entering the deep blue sky to finally be able to rest in peace.

Kraxor dropped to his knees, feeling them evaporate right before his burning eyes. Physical form and flesh started to burn under the magic energies, Kraxor felt his arms and legs vanish. And with a final, ever lasting scream of agony, Kraxor's body vanished into complete and total nothingness. The only thing remaining of the fallen mighty destroyer, is the Darkpocalypse armor. Gallry's light sword fizzled out as it clanged lifelessly to the ground.

"I'm sorry" Lina said, choking back tears.

Rain started to drizzle its cold, icy droplets as Lina collapsed to her knees. The young girl's eyes brimmed to the brink with tears. Gourry watched in awe as Lina just lowered her head, crying, crying, and crying her life away.

Gallry sighed "Lina".

Zelgadis groaned "Ugh, dam that was a long nap".

The young Amelia shrieked "BLEACH, ewww, gross. I'm never going to eat another fish as long as I live".

The cured heroes slowly rejoined Gourry, also drawn to the sight of the sobbing, sad little sorceress. Amelia was about to approach Lina, but Zelgadis shook his head no. Gourry went to her without any hesitation.

Amelia blinked "I don't understand Mr. Zelgadis. What's wrong with Lina, shouldn't she be happy that Kraxor is dead?".

Zelgadis nodded "Confronting your demons is one thing Amelia, burying them……now that's quite different, besides Kraxor isn't dead".

"Say what?" Amelia blurted out.

Zelgadis replied "Kraxor was right, that armor truly was indestructible. However his soul was nothing of the sort".

The young girl shook her head "I'm afraid I don't understand any of this Mr. Zelgadis. If he's not dead, then what happened to him?".

"Do you remember that spell we performed at the magic shop?" Zelgadis asked.

Amelia nodded "You mean the one that failed?".

Zelgatis answered "No, no, it didn't fail, it just got delayed that's all".

Amelia groaned "Huh?".

Zelgatis smiled "Let me explain. The spell I used was a binding spell, a form of magic that binds one person's life essence to an object, location, or element. The purpose of the spell was to bind Kraxor's soul to his magical armor. However something went wrong, and he seemed unaffected by it.

But, I later realized I had forgotten all about the heart of Gilgamesh. That little stone somehow prevented the spell from taking effect. But once Lina destroyed it, the spell kicked in and trapped Kraxor's spirit into the metal. He is now trapped in that suit of armor, bound to it for the rest of eternity.

Kraxor will never be able to sleep, rest, or depart from this world so long as the armor exists. And because the armor is indestructible, he has made himself the perfect grave……and the perfect prison. How ironic. He wanted that armor so badly, he died for it, now he's doomed to rot in it, forever.

* * *

_I open my eyes  
I try to see but I'm blinded by the white light  
I can't remember how  
I can't remember why  
I'm lying here tonight  
And I can't stand the pain  
And I can't make it go away  
No I can't stand the pain _

Chorus:  
How could this happen to me  
I've made my mistakes  
Got no where to run  
The night goes on  
As I'm fading away  
I'm sick of this life  
I just wanna scream  
How could this happen to me

Everybody's screaming  
I try to make a sound but no one hears me  
I'm slipping off the edge  
I'm hanging by a thread  
I wanna start this over again

So I try to hold onto a time when nothing mattered  
And I can't explain what happened  
And I can't erase the things that I've done  
No I can't

How could this happen to me  
I've made my mistakes  
Got no where to run  
The night goes on  
As I'm fading away  
I'm sick of this life  
I just wanna scream  
How could this happen to me

* * *

Several minutes later, Lina and her friends had buried the Darkpocalypse armor, deep within the earth. They preyed the chest would never be open, and that the armor would never be found again. Upon the burial site, was a small tombstone for Lina's fallen friend/foe: Jacob Loomis. Gourry and the others left Lina to make her final piece with the man she helped destroy.

Her eyes glittered with saddening tears as she rubbed her hand over Jacob's grave. Lina sighed "I'm sorry Jacob, sorry for everything I've ever done to you. I don't know where you are right now, or what it is your feeling. But I hope wherever you are……you've found peace. Rest in peace Jacob, rest in peace" Lina said as she departed the grave. The chilling winds breezed upon the grave, simply engraved with R.I.P Jacob Loomis, no more, no less.

* * *

Hundreds of years later……

A male voiced boomed "Are you sure this is all right Iyla?".

"I told you Louie, my family bought these lands years ago. Whatever we find is legally ours to keep" the female voice said.

Those 2 young voices brushed their hands across the dirt that cluttered the top of the blood red chest. Several kinds of chains, locks, and restraints were shackled to the chest. The young, long blue haired man looked to his red headed, female friend with glasses. The two stared at the chest in wonder:

Iyla asked "So what do you suppose is in it?".

Louie hummed "I don't know, let's open it and find out".

* * *

THE END? 


End file.
